The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies
by Authorial Nerd
Summary: War. Subspace has returned, and their aim is once more the same. But who are these mysterious allies in Prospace? Find out in this Smash 4-era story. Read and review, features a pair of OC/OC pairings. 2-7: The slog ends, and we reunite with some old friends! The author is still exhausted, though... WARNING: HEAVY AU IN VERSE II
1. 1-1: Arrival

Chapter 1: Arrival

As the laughing group of Mii tourists stepped into their bus, three looked behind them. "I'm going to miss this place. It's hard to believe that it's been eleven years since we were created, and we're just now allowed to leave Miitopia. I mean, we had to fight monsters, defeat two different Dark Lords, and all for what? The monsters are still here, although much weaker, but we're leaving. Why?" A man in red asked. The woman beside him turned to speak in reply. "Will, the world will be fine without us. Plus, after Little Mac, Ganondorf, and Kirby were able to be recombined, we got an invitation to the BIGGEST tournament of all time! Live a little, shakablooey, right?" Will, the man in blue, grinned. "Absolutely. Ethan would love hearing you say that, Sarah." She blushed, as the man in orange coughed. "I'm right here, you know. I have ears, they're right here on the sides of my ovoid head." With that he raised an eyebrow at Will. "Hey! We're waiting for you three to get on the bus so we can leave, ya know." Ethan sighed, "C'mon guys, let's go." The three took one last look over the land they had saved from doom and destruction, and stepped onto the bus. A voice spoke over the intercom. *Alright, ladies and gentlemiis, let's get this show on the road! While we drive to the airport, we'll play a video explaining the origins of Smashville, and the tournament that calls it home.* Several video screens dropped down from above, and began to play a, well, video. A giant hand appeared onscreen, aside a creature us readers know as Masahiro Sakurai, but in that world, he was simply called 'The Father of Kirby', after his creation, the lovable, huggable, adorable pink puffball, Mario. No, not really, it was actually Kirby. Gotcha! Heehee... Heh... On to the story. The man, Sakurai, spoke. "If you are watching this video, congratulations. You are on your way to Smashville." Here the hand spoke. "The man beside me is the Father of Kirby, Mr. Masahiro Sakurai. I am Master Hand, second of his creations, and if I may so myself, the most powerful." Something that sounded like an angry "POYO!" was shouted from outside the screen. "No, down, Kirby! I still love you, why wouldn't I? Heheheh, apologies. Smashville, founded in preparation for the first tournament, known as 64 in the logbooks. Why, I'm not sure, but it's all in the man's head. That year we had 12 characters, and they are..." An image flashed across the screen for each hero. "Mario! Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom." An image showed him K. O. ing Bowser. "Donkey Kong! Funky jungle monkey!" The image showed him hyping the crowd as Jigglypuff went sailing through the air. "Link! Hero of Hyrule, Rival of Mario." It showed a tense face down between the two arch-mascots. "Samus, Space bounty hunter." She launched a Charge Shot at Ridley. "Yoshi! Adorable Green Dinosaur, but he packs a punch." Yoshi steamrolling some one. "Kirby!" "POYO!" The adorable pink softball hops into the main screen and gives the camera a hug. The bus reacted with a bunch of "Awwwww"s. "Don't be fooled, he too is deceptively difficult to defeat. Next, Fox. Star Fox leader, and the only married Smasher." It showed a picture of him fighting Wolf, then his marriage to Krystal. "Last of the first eight was Pikachu. The electric mouse took viewers hearts by storm." * ba dum bum crash* "What many don't know, is he's an accomplished musician, playing the electric guitar." *A/ N: eeeh my jokes are bad hee hee* "Four wild cards joined the tournament later, Luigi, Brother of Mario, and second-class hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. It doesn't make any difference to his girlfriend, Daisy. We also had Captain Falcon, a faced who packs a punch, a literal one, into his arsenal. Then Ness, a child, with strong and strange elemental powers. Finally, Jigglypuff, the singer. Better watch out for this one, he might rest on you. If he does, it's LIGHTS OUT FOR YOU! * ahem * The first tournament ended with a Mario victory, but Masahiro and I wanted more people, more worlds, in this tournament. The next year, we grew to 29 heroes. Including the original 12, as they're now kbown, we added: *takes deep breath* Bowser, Dr. Mario, Falco, Ganondorf, Ice Climbers, Marth, Mewtwo, Mr. G&W, Peach, Pichu, Roy, Sheik, Young Link, and Zelda. *collapses onto ground, wheezing* That was too many for one breath." Here, Mr. Sakurai picked it up. "Unfortunately several character only stayed that one tournament, not to return the next year. They were: Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Pichu, Roy, and Young Link. However, several new members joined to balance it out. Pokemon Trainer, Diddy Kong, Ike, the not very well-liked King Dedede, Lucario, Lucas, the Meta Knight, Olimar, Pit, ROB, Snake, who will not return this year, Sonic, Toon Link, the always-gassy Wario, Wolf, and Zero Suit Samus. Ice Climbers and Wolf will not return this year either, but we also have a wealth of new additions. Bayonetta, Cloud, Corrin, Dark Pit or Pittoo, Dr. Mario returns, the Dick Hunt Duo, Greninja, Little Mac, Lucina, Mega Man, Mewtwo returns, Pac-Man, Palutena, Robin, Robyn, *A/N: Robin is male, Robyn is female, just for future reference* Roy makes his triumphant return, Ryu, Shulk, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, and the heroes of the people, our first three Mii fighters. Will, our Brawler. Ethan, our Gunner. Sarah, our Swordfighter. They all will arrive soon, and may the tournament be a success." At the end of the clip, as the bus pulled into the airport, the other passengers murmured and looked at the three heroes among them. As the tourists and out heroes piled off the bus someone tapped the three Mii Fighters on the shoulder. They turned to come face to face with the legendary Fox McCloud. Ethan gasped, "You-You're Fox!" The furred man opposite him smiled with a nod. "That I am. Fox McCloud, Hero of Corneria, add Arwing pilot." "Ethan. I'm the new Gunner, but I turn into a Tank." "We'll make you a true gunner. The same goes for all of your friends; by the time we finish training you guys, you'll be ready to take on anyone, even Mario. I assume your friends are the other fighters?" " I'm Sarah, I'm the swordfighter. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. McCloud." "Please, call me Fox. Otherwise you sound like Isabelle, bless her heart. She came with Villager, decided to stay, and now helps Master Hand run the mansion." "I'm Will. I'm a Brawler. I punch things and it feels good." Everyone laughed at this. "Yes, you do. I can tell, just by your muscles. Flex for me." Will obliged, and nearly burst out of his shirt. "Well then. Don't think we need to do strength training with you, eh?" Will grinned, as any man would after being complemented on his guns. Ethan flicked Sarah on the ear. "It's not polite to stare, even though we know him. What's with you today?" Sarah blushed and turned away hurriedly. "Nothing, I'm fine..." Fox called out to the other two Miis. "Hey guys! I'm ready to go when you guys are! We have a private jet-" Will burst in to this with a cry of "SNACKS?" and a chorus of ensuing laughter, with Fox managing a nod through the laughter. "Awesome! Let's go, guys!" And they all piled onto the plane. A few minutes later, it took off, and our three Mii heroes flew into the skies over Greenhorne.

A/N: First chapter of a new story! This was fun to write, and Chapter 2 will show, well, I won't tell you yet! Please leave a review and leave me feedback! Authorial Nerd, signing off!


	2. 1-2: Flying, or Lack Thereof

A/ N: For future reference, consider the Miis as being humans. I do not own the rights to any of the other characters unless specified. Read and review, please!

Chapter 2-Flying, or Lack Thereof

What happened on the plane after "Arrival" but before takeoff-

As the three Miis and Fox stepped aboard the modular-looking plane, a small, green man stepped out of the pilot's cabin to greet them. "Hello, my name is Jebediah Kerman, of the planet Kerbin, of the Kerbol System. This fine plane is the Peregrine 4 (Mk. 8), a four-Juno engine powered 4-passenger craft. I am the only pilot to have ever been trained to fly this. You must be our three Mii fighters, yes?" The man in orange, Ethan, stepped forward. "That we are, good sir. I am Ethan, the team's Gunner. Standing beside me, are Will, in the red, and Sarah, in the blue."

"It's an honor to meet you fine Miis. Kerbin is very proud of having some of the little people appropriated for the tournament, and we hope to eventually send our own representative. Valentina would be in such awe of you guys!" Sarah blushed at the high praise from the green aliens. "Thank you, sir. From the way you speak of her, I assume you and this Valentina are close?" Jebediah smiled. "Oh yes, very close. In fact, we first met when we were launched into space together, the two of us sharing an area about as wide as the plane. So, quite literally close, you could say!" Will's eyes widened. "You went to space? What was it like?" At this Fox butted in. "Hey, I'm a space pilot. That said, so is Jeb, but I had much higher tech." Jeb retorted with this; "Yes, which makes it much easier for you than me. I was my world's first kerb in space, you weren't even in the first five hundred on your world. You are in no way allowed to brag, sir. To answer your question, Will, I will-GREAT KRAKEN! WE NEED TO GET IN THE AIR! I apologize, guys, but we need to leave or we're gonna be late, and the Squad will not be happy at my late return..." With this, he hustled the Miis (plus Fox) to their seats, and he hopped into his seat at the front. The planes four engines spooled up, and Jeb muttered "Not enough speed... I need the fifth engine." With this, he flipped some switches and a fifth engine emerged from the tail of the plane. He came over the intercom: "Lady, gentlemiis, and arrogant fox-looking being, our flight time to Smashville today will be three hours and twenty-two minutes with the extra fifth engine today and at max fuel efficiency. Sit back, relax, and admire your scenery. Now, with that, the plane took off and climbed into the skies above Greenhorne. Will and Fox shared the first cabin, with Will asking all of the questions he had about space travel, and Fox (with help from Jeb, who could hear them) answering as many as he could. In the second cabin, Ethan and Sarah spent most of the time with their faces plastered against the windows. Will had a question for Jeb, however, taking the heat off of Fox, at least temporarily. "Hey Jeb, what is the Kerbol system like, and what's the best view?" "Well, we have seven planets, Moho, the closest, Eve, the Kerbal destroyer, with its tiny moon Gilly, Kerbin, my home, with its two moons of the Mun and Minmus, Duna with its large moon of Ike, Dres with its asteroid ring, Jool with its five mighty moons, Tylo, the crusher, Vall, the ice moon, Laythe, the ocean moon, and Bop and Pol, the fuel mining moons, small little lumps that aren't great for anything else. The last planet is Eeloo, the ice ball, frozen and cold. The best view? It'd have to be watching a Joolrise from one of the islands on Laythe, or an Eveian sunrise, with its green hues. I don't think I could decide between the two, at least not easily."

"Jool, is it a gaseous planet?"

"Very much so. Its green color, similarly hued to that of my own skin, is unique among the system's many bodies."

"It sounds beautiful, Jeb." Jeb nodded from where he sat. "It is, you've never experienced life until you've seen a Joolrise over Laythe."

His voice crackled over the intercom to those in the rear cabin. "Attention, attention, all passengers. Please prepare yourselves for some tricks before landing." Ethan and Sarah shared a quick nervous glance before fastening their seatbelts. "Is this what the harness is for?" Sarah asked "I-I-I think so!" was Ethan's nervous reply. As he fastened his harness, the voice of Jeb came over the comms once again. "IT'S TIME TO RUMBL-Whadda mean I can't do tricks, Fox? C'mon that's all the fun! Please? Fine, fine. Just a tower buzz? YAY!" And with that, the plane took a dive towards the ground, picking up speed as he went. Something like "NYAAAAAAAAAAAAA MAKE IT STOP" came hurtling out of the back cabin as Jeb pulled up and sped towards the tower. Several of the younger air traffic controllers dropped to the ground in fear, but the older ATC men simply shook their fists at the daredevil pilot. "Alright lady and gentlemen, it's time for our final approach for landing. Thanks to Fox *glares* I can't pull stunts for landing, so I'll make a normal landing. Tray tables and sets backs must be in the full upright and locked position, blah blah blah, you know the drill." With that, the plane made a turn towards the runway. "H-Hey Fox? Is the runway normally that short at airports?"

"Nope, this is an anomaly here." Will's eyes widened in fear. "Wh-What?" Fox just smirked. As they came in for a landing, Will braced himself for a crash until... *fwoomp* a parachute opened behind the plane, slowing it down for the shorter runway. Fox reassured the younger Mii. "They only allow VTOL planes or Kerb-built planes, like the Peregrine here, that have drag chutes, to land. Normal planes can't land here. Only special planes can, which helps keep the tourist traffic relatively low for us Smashers outside of tourney season. Then, we open the second, longer runway, and welcome the rest of the world and the known universe into the tournament viewing stands. You can see the stadium there, look!" Will took all this information in with a hunger for knowledge, and turned to his left to see the million-seat stadium. "It's... It's so big! You hear it has a million seats, but you never truly get a good feel for scale! It's... It's..." "Huge!" Ethan butted in. "I mean, that's massive! That's the stadium? And I mean THE stadium?" Fox nodded in the affirmative. "Yep, sure is!"

"Wow... Amazing. A true feat of engineering, isn't it, Sarah?" She nodded, speechless at its majestic grandeur. "It's beautiful, but that doesn't even begin to describe it!"

"No, it truly doesn't."

"I hate to break up your party, but I need my plane back. This is where we say farewell for now, but I'll see you at the tournament by when it rolls around, I hope!" cut in Jeb, "It is an honor to meet you guys. If you ever find your way to the Kerbol system, give me a ring-a-ling and me and a couple friends can set you up with a Grand Tour of the system, eh?" Ethan stepped forward to shake the kerbal's hand as he disembarked from the jet. "It would be an honor, Jeb. I'd he honored to fly Jebediah Air again." The two shook, followed by Fox giving the kerb a warm handshake built upon years of friendship. Sarah and Will both followed suit, and the four stepped off the plane. They were greeted by a throng of cheering fans opposite the fence of the airport. "Are... are they all here for us?" Fox nodded, "You guys have quite the fanbase, Mii Fighters. Go sign some autographs for the locals, it'll be some training for the main tournament later, lots of autographs there, Will. But make sure you sign which one you are, Brawler. Gunner. *nods at Ethan* Mrs. Swordfighter." With that he gestured towards the fans, and the waiting autographs. Sarah shuddered in dread at the amount of people while getting chills of excitement simultaneously. "These are all our fans? This is amazing!" Fox grinned, and began to sign a few autographs for those begging for his signature (he has fans, too, ya know!). As cameras began to roll in the background, a hooded man stood far behind them. A much taller man walked up. "The Miis... what is your plan for them, boss?" The hooded man gave a sinister smile. "You will see, boy, you will see."

A/N: Chapter 2 is a little longer than the original. Jebediah Kerman is a character from the independently developed Kerbal Space Program, and the Peregrine is a plane built by a friend of mine. I might try to the in as many games as I can, to almost create a whole gaming universe, with Earth in its ignorance, and newer games not knowing the truth yet, and the older games knowing about the existence of the others. I will try to keep the characters as accurate as possible. Please favorite, follow, and review!


	3. 1-3: Decisions

Chapter 3: Decisions

Disclaimer: I only own the Miis, and all other characters belong to their respective owners/developers. Please imagine the Miis as human for story purposes.

As the Miis signed autographs, they slowly made their ways towards a private car waiting nearby, which would presumably take them to the mansion. The driver of the car hopped out (not literally) and called to the Miis. "Hey, rookies! Fox! Time to go, you guys!" Fox shot a glance towards the driver, who turned out to be one of the original 12. "On it, Captain! Come on, Brawler."

"Yessir!" Will followed Fox towards the car, grabbing the other two fighters as he went. As they approached, Ethan ran forwards to shake the captain's hand. "You-You're Captain Falcon!"

"Yes! Indeed I am. You are Gunner, no?"

"Guilty as charged. These are my friends, Brawler and Swordfighter." Sarah gave a small smile and a wave. Will stood there stoically with only an acknowledging nod. "How have you been since coming second in last year's Brawl tournament?" The Captain shuddered at the memory of being obliterated by Meta Knight. "I've been training more than I ever have, even more than back when I was a racer. As you can see, it's payed off, as I got the prestigious job of car driver to and from the mansion."

"Oh, cool!" Ethan replied. "Are you good friends with Mario or Link, since they were the only people to defeat Meta Knight before, which seems to be the only way to win a tournament?" The Captain thought. "Link and I have... A business relationship, but I am much more cordial with Mario. Link and I know each other on a much more casual basis, but Mario, Luigi, and I share a room with one of the newcomers... Shulk, I believe his name is. He's a very quiet, reserved fellow. Extremely good fighter, however, don't get me wrong!"

"Hey, so out of what you've seen of us rookies, all of us, do you think one of us might have a chance on winning the tournament?"

"Hmm... this is a difficult question. I do believe that if the bracket is set in your favor, you may very well have a chance. However, with this year's difficult bracket, I'll be interested to see what happens. What with twenty people in a one round play-in tournament, the original 12 and 4 others getting a play-in and first-round bye, it should be interesting even to figure out the bracket. Add that in with the double-elimination format, and it will be a nice, long tournament. It should be really fun!"

"Wait, did you say double elimination?" Ethan was surprised, as were his companions. Fox replied to this one. "He sure did. The people want more tournament, and so that's what we'll give them. We're also making the matches 3-life, until the quarterfinals in both sides of the bracket, when it becomes best of 3 games." Ethan winced at the confusion that would be sure to follow about the tournament, and its bracket. As he stood there confused, the Captain gestured the fighters into the car, and they all obliged. After Will and Fox rushed into the car first, with a joint cry of "AIR CONDITIONING! YES!", Ethan gestured for Sarah to go next. "Ladies third?" They shared a laugh, but as Ethan caught his breath, he noticed something different in the way she looked at him. Just as quickly as he caught it, though, it was gone. He shrugged it off as nothing, but was that truly the case? (A/N: Only I know... mwahahahah!) As she stepped into the car, Ethan pondered whether he truly was something different or whether it was a trick of the lights above. Maybe... Maybe... Maybe there was something more than friendship she felt for him? Impossible, she couldn't keep secrets, but maybe she had just realized her feelings herself. He shook his head as he stepped into the car, as if they would have to fight and there was indeed something more than friendship, she might throw the match! No, she wouldn't do that, would she? Besides, if there were feelings, she would have come clean a long time ago. She was a Warrior, and you could read so much about one just in the way they wear their cape, he'd learned. She was also a terrible liar, so that worked against her. He stepped into the car, where the rest of the boys already sat in the seats closest to the vents, still aimlessly chatting (small talk, ugh) about... guy... things... (A/N: IDK about things in this world. I might add some kind of sports in later, add another aspect!) Not that he knew nothing about such topics, he was a man, and a Tank at that, but such small talk disgusted him. As such, he moved to sit next to Sarah, who was as far away from the (slightly sweaty) boys as she could, and Ethan sat next to her (he was less sweaty than the others) after double checking that he could. The internal thoughts of Ethan began to take on the form of a conversation...

I should ask her about earlier, there's nothing that could go wrong!

Are you kidding? Everything could go wrong! And you don't even like like her, do you?

Actually, I think I might. Spending like six years with three people makes the four of you (I had a Mii of Lil Mac as my 4th, but they "combined" him when he became a fighter) you really close, both figuratively and literally.

Eh, good point. But think, so you really really like her, but does she like you?

Only one way to find out.

NO! YOU'RE NOT DOING THAT! What if that's not what she thinks and-

"Hey, are you ok? You seem kinda sweaty and twitchy all of a sudden. Are you nervous?" Oh gosh, Sarah couldn't have asked at the wrong time...

"Yeah, I'm ok." I'm gonna do it, Unconfident Voice.

Alright. I did warn you, but go ahead, I guess. "Hey can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, sure. We have time before we get our first view of the mansion, so go ahead."

"When I made that joke earlier, I looked back up and... this is gonna sound crazy, but... I saw something different in your eyes. A little sparkle that wasn't there before. Is there something you think about me that I should know?"

"Are you asking if I like you?"

"Yeah, something like that-"

"I... I just don't know. I mean there are times that I would answer yes, but there are times that I would answer no, as well. But if you're asking right now, I think it's a yes."

Oh.

Oh, crap. You were right... Good call, Confidence.

Thanks, did you just compliment me?

Nope!

Oh.

Is that a good "Oh." or a bad one?

Definitely good on the first, meh on the second.

"Sarah... I... I... I would like for you to..."

**A/N: Cliffhanger! This is a good one, and I'm proud of churning out chapters like I am right now, but I will miss a substantial amount of time (Saturday, July 20-Saturday July 27) in a camp without electronics, so you might just have to do without chapters for a week. I may or may not get a fourth chapter this week before I leave, but it all depends on how much time I have. Goodbye for now!**


	4. 1-4: Arrival (Part 2) & Yesterday?

The Tournament: RotR: Chapter 4: Arrival, and What About Yesterday?

**A/N: It's currently Wednesday night (The 17th) here, and I just finished Chapter 3 a few short minutes ago. Now, I'm not sure this chapter will be up to my requested length before I have to leave (a lengthy Authors Note helps) so this may not be up before I leave. So, let's get into it! We left off with Fox and Will small talking (UGH) Sarah having confirmed Ethan's suspicions that she liked him and an unusual (for me) cliffhanger ending. So let's dive right in! The only characters that belong to me are the Miis. All other characters belong to their respective owners/developers.**

So we left off with a question, or a statement, really. "Sarah... I... I..." At this exact moment, the car hit a pothole in the road, Ethan got bounced, and landed on top of Sarah, their lips touching. And now back to the internal dialogue.

Oh, crap.

Oh, crap indeed.

Ethan bolted upright, eyes wide. "Oh gods... I'm sorry... But the pothole... I guess it just made up my mind for me." He blushed a little at this statement, and Sarah's eyes widened. "Ethan... Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was still trying to make up my mind, at least until we hit -"

His words we cut off as Sarah pulled him in for another kiss. This one was cut off by the catcalls and wolf whistles emanating from the other side of the car, Will and Fox having been temporarily forgotten. Will and Fox were laughing, and Will managed to squeak out a "Get a room, you two!" as they burst into harder laughing. Ethan winced, but Sarah laughed along, she being one of those people who spontaneously bursts into laughter if other people are laughing in the same room. Ethan sighed, and did that sheepish thing people do when they're embarrassed by like putting their hand behind their head and kinda just scratch a little bit, but that may just be me. Sarah suddenly have an excited squeal as she leaned towards the window. "GUYS! GUYS! MANSION IN SIGHT!" With that, the others for their butts to a window and watched as the mansion, connected to the Stadium Grandius, that being its technical name, by a walkway, grew larger in its window. And then something else came into view. Will groaned. "Please tell me that's not the media."

The Captain leaned back from the front seat, "Sure is, kid. Fox, it's Media 101 time. I'm putting the car in park, they can't see us out here." Fox got a grin on his Facebook anything the Miis had even seen before, as Fox and Captain Falcon gave the Miis a crash course in talking to the media. "Always make sure to have a target on someone, be it a rival or a friendly match against a friend to show off your skills. Always smile, and never, never, NEVER curse at the media. That's a bad idea, don't do it kids." Falcon piled on. "We should have you in the middle, Sarah, with Ethan a little bit closer than Will-"

"You heard the whole thing!?"

"Yep, and rumors spread like wildfire here. So the best thing to do is put them to bed before they even begin." Ethan and Sarah nodded, it would be best to put it out there now, not start any rumors. With that, they drove the rest of the way to, shall I say, _Meet the Press_? A successful news conference followed, but the highlight was one reporter asking Will this. "There are rumors that you and Sarah have a relationship, is this true?" Sarah was having a drink of water and nearly choked. Ethan answered for the astonished, wordless Will who was looking around for what to do at Fox and the friendly Captain, who were as surprised as Will was. "Sarah and Will are most certainly not, as Sarah is mine." With this he pulled Sarah a little closer to him, protectively, than she was before, her mouthing a grateful 'Thank you' later became one of the most-shared non-tournament .gifs of all time, and the two of them shared a short kiss as camera shutters clicked. Ethan, the de facto team leader, gave a nod to Fox and Captain Falcon, before ending the Press conference with this. "Now, if you'll excuse us, my girlfriend and I have to unpack, and Will needs to find some words. Thank you for your time." The reporters laughed, and the three Miis made their way off the stage to the first-pumping duo of Fox and Captain Falcon. "You guys crushed it!"

"YES!"

"The other Smashers are inside, waiting to give you a Smash welcome. They saw the whole press conference, and the group chat went wild with praise for you three. The most praise since Roy made his initial conference before _Melee_, if not more." This was huge praise, as Roy's initial press conference was the golden standard for initial press conferences. so far, until today no one had come close to matching Roy's feat. Ethan and Sarah grinned, still intertwined with Ethan's arm around her shoulders and Sarah's arm kinda just holding him close. (**A/N: I'm not very experienced in relationships IRL, so just go with it.**) Will was still speechless but managed to squeak something out.

"Cool. Can I get some water, sir? I think my voice died a horrible death on that stage."

"Yeah, we'll grab a water inside. Come on, heroes of the people. Your new life awaits!" With that, he gestured for the fighters to enter the mansion. As they entered, they could see all of the Smashers assembled, many smiling. The villains didn't look happy but whatever. A telepathic voice, however entered their minds and told them. "My name is Mewtwo. You don't know me, but you need to look up." The Miis obeyed. Without any warning a bucket of water dropped on Will, having been held up by Mewtwo's telepathy. Ethan and Sarah, in the other hand, had a sprig of mistletoe overhead, and groaned. Ethan turned to the assembled crowd. "Do we have to?" The answer was a resounding "Yes!" with one "What? Do you think we're all here to say hello?" that came from a... rather large man. Okay, fat. Very, very fat. Ethan sighed, but kissed Sarah to a chorus of wolf whistles, catcalls, and cheers. A man in red stepped forwards, "Okay, with the mandatory prank done, the villains can leave -" About 7-8 people (the villains) cheered "as well as anyone else who would like to be the Fighters' first target." Here, another batch of five left, who would like to challenge the Miis to their first tournament. These were: the Meta Knight, Diddy Kong, Roy, Toon Link, and Ike. The eight characters would fight an eight -person tournament, with the winner securing a slot in the top 16, and immediate fame. Here, the crowd parted after the five left, clearing the path for... A man in a purple robe? He spoke. "Ah, the heroes of Miitopia. They must have trolled you well-oh they got you with the water, didn't they?" Will nodded sadly. " and what did they do to you two? We all saw the Press conference, so it would've had to have been something for both of you. " Ethan replied. "Mistletoe, sir." The man stepped back. "What!? WARIO! WE SAID NO MORE MISTLETOE, NOT AFTER THE ROBIN/ROBYN INCIDENT!" All of the Smashers, including our three heroes, were covering their ears. Another man, this one in blue, and seemingly drunken, asked the man in purple, "yA WaNt mE To gO GeT HiM, bRoThEr?" "No, Crazy. And don't come out when you're on the sauce and we have newcomers!" "FiNe." Ethan piped up. "Wait, Crazy? Like, Crazy Hand?" The man in blue nodded. "ThE OnE AnD OnLy, BoY!" Ethan turned to the man in purple. "Which makes you Master Hand? But I thought you were just, well, hands!" Master Hand laughed. "No, child. I'm surprised you haven't recognized my voice..." He pointed to the Gunner's amulet. "You, you were the voice? You gave me my powers! I... I guess I owe you everything, then. In fact-" and this was as far he got before a short man in green burst out of the kitchen. "GUYS! YOU'RE HERE!" which was met with three calls of "LITTLE MAC!" and one call of "MACKENZIE LITTLE, YOU BETTER FINISH COOKING!" "Oh... Well, I'll catch up later, gang. Be safe, people around here a little... off, sometimes." Will patted the man on the shoulder. "Hey, go make a he** of a dinner for us, we expect some Maestro Cooking." The green chef smiled and dashed back to the kitchen. The man in red, who the fighters now recognized as Mario stepped forwards. "You probably already know me, but I'm Mario." Each of the Miis stepped forwards in their turn. "Mii Brawler, Will." "Mii Swordfighter, Sarah." "Mii Gunner, Ethan." A man in green, evidently the plumber's brother, raised an eyebrow behind Mario. "Eh? Can't-a you guys speak good-a English?" Ethan facepalmed. "We meant, that we are the Mii Fighters. Mii Gunner, myself, Mii Swordfighter, my girlfriend Sarah, and Mii Brawler, Will." Luigi aahed, probably internally cursing his stupidity in Italian. A woman with a pink parasol stepped up next to Mario, Peach, perhaps? "I personally think that you two are cute together, and I've been rooting for the two of you since we first heard about you from Little Mac. In fact, Lucina! Robyn! Pay up, girls!" The two other ladies mentioned grumbled, but placed a few golden coins each into Peach's hand. "Now, with that matter taken care of, dinner is ready, and Mac has become a much better since we recombined him with his Mii from your party, he's a much better person in general since, actually!" Sarah smiled. "That's good to hear. We slowly shaped him into a better person, but that said we had six of our years to do it, so we had more time to shape him!" With that the cameras began to fade out and to black. But with that, I must end the entry. Our writings are becoming rambling, and we do not want that, so we must end it. Good night.

Ethan, Mii Gunner

Sarah, Mii Swordfighter

Will, Mii Brawler

MII FIGHTERS, ARRIVAL NIGHT T-0 LOG

MASTER HAND NOTE, NIGHT 10247

I caught a glimpse of a hooded man, and I heard him say that "The Miis will not continue, I will finally win. For once, and for all." He flipped his cape and literally disappeared. I will keep this news to myself, it seems that the Miis may have brought unintended baggage with them, in the form of a villian. However, I thought they had defeated their villain, three times? The Dark Lord, the Darker Lord, and the Darkest Spirit? That said, I thought they freed the Spirit from it's curse... No, Daniel couldn't have come here. He's not that crazy, is he? I'm not sure any more...

**A/N: I think I might turn this into a more of a log or diary, so I can express all three points of view, it's a little bit easier to put in all of their thoughts. Also, my longest chapter, or really anything that I've ever written besides one research paper that totalled about 5-6K words, but this is now closing in on that as a series in whole, so I'm honestly quite impressed with how this story is coming along. This chapter alone pushed it over the 5K mark, making the longest series I have by a long shot, and I think the chapters are only going to get longer as the series progresses towards the Season One Finale. It's currently Thursday night, with the chapter likely being posted tomorrow (Later Note: Yep!) but there won't be any more before I leave unless I wrote a whole nother chapter tomorrow, which is possible. So, until next time, Authorial Nerd, signing off!**


	5. 1-5: Training

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Chapter 5: Preparation

**A/N: I'm back! This is looking to be another long chapter (at least, by my standards) in the books, and I will soon be having the tournament!**

Mii Fighters Log, Day A+1 (Arrival +1)

So, this is it. Our very first tournament matches are soon! We have one short tournament to impress the Rankings Committee if we don't win, so if we lose, we better, "lose with style", as Lucario told us yesterday. *Pretty good advice, if you ask me!* Yeah, I get it, Will. It is good advice. So, first off is breakfast and hanging out with our new trainers, Fox, Falco, and the Captain, who are gonna be training is before the final Rookie Rumble. Top two get a play-in bye, and first gets a first-round bye. So it's kinda important that we do well, especially because we won't have any training fights ahead of time. It should be really good, but we're all nervous. I probably should put this down and head to breakfast, though. In fact, a few muffins sound really good right now.

Third-(or maybe Fourth-) person view

As Ethan exits the room the two boys are staying in to head to breakfast, he bumps into Will.

**Ethan(1): How was I supposed to know he was right outside the door?**

**Will: How was I supposed to know he'd just come charging out of the door?**

**Sarah: Geez... boys. You think you know them, then you find them arguing over who's fault it was that one of them ran into the other right outside of a door... *rolls eyes* I have no idea what I'm going to do with them...**

So she gave them each a good flick on the ear (she has really good aim with those, now, since she's been dealing with them for almost five years) which prompted a "Good morning, Sarah" from each of them before they went back to arguing.

"Why were you just standing in front of the door? It doesn't matter who's going to come out, they're still going to run into you!"

"Yeah, well, you never come charging out of doors, so how was I supposed to know that for the one time you did do that?" Ethan opened his mouth to give a biting retort, before being interrupted by Sarah again. "So, you guys are just gonna do this instead of getting breakfast?" This was met by two pairs of widened eyes and the boys rushing past her towards the cafeteria, jockeying each other for position. Sarah nodded, pleased with herself, as her roommate stepped up behind her. "You weren't kidding when you said the boys were food motivated, where you?"

"Of course not, Peach. Ever since Lil Mac started doing the cooking for us, the boys always wrestled with each other to get there first. I was hoping it would stop here because we're in a more... sophisticated... situation, but clearly no luck there."

"It's fine, they won't be the only ones rushing for Lil Mac's cooking." Peach reassured her. "Kirby's been like that since they combined him, too!" The girls shared a giggle over this, all the while moving towards the cafeteria.

Camera pans out to the cafeteria, where our two hungry, energetic, food motivated boys are rushing towards the food. However, as they reach the line, they receive the most unfortunate spot... right behind Wario. "Oh no... of all the people to get stuck behind, it had to be Wario?"

"Yeah this sucks. Wait... lemme try something..." Ethan, ever the risk-taker, tapped the large man in front of him. "Hey, Wario, I think someone just dropped off a package of garlic for you at the front door." "Waaa? Get outta ma way!" With that he shoved Ethan aside and... waddle/ran towards the front door. Will and Ethan started snickering at the humorous sight of the fat man "running" to a fake package of garlic at the front door of the mansion after he was a safe distance away and couldn't hear them.

**Will: I have to admit the garlic idea was genius on Ethan's part. Well played, sir.**

Laughing, the two boys stepped forward into what used to be Wario's spot.

However, a dark figure in the corner was not laughing. "So, you think you're so clever, do you now? We'll see how long that lasts... fools." Once again, he pulled off the cape-swipe-disappear trick.

However, no one saw him, except for the tall man in a purple robe walking in the door, who caught a glimpse of him right at the end.

"Good morning, Smashers!" He cried. This was met with a bunch of "Good morning, sir!" 's in reply, with everyone answering except for Ethan, who was eating his muffin. He looked around, doing a quick head count. "We're missing someone... but who?" Most of the smashers started doing small head counts among their friend groups, trying in vain to figure out who was missing. Right at the end, however, just as some were beginning to give up hope, a very disappointed Wario walked through the door. *mumble mumble garlic... mumble mumble delicious, tasty garlic...* Master rolled his eyes, and simply continued on to the food.

*spongebob guy voice*: One Hour Later...

"Now are you boys happy I reminded you about breakfast?" "Yeah, yeah, don't gloat, Sarah. When I'm right, do I gloat? No... but you... " Here Ethan playfully jabbed her in the side. "You have to gloat, don't you?"

"Oh really? Since when did you stop gloating, O Mighty One?"

"Comedic effect." *winks at camera* Will sighed. "The two of you have gotten even more insufferable since we left... Man, I'm wishing Zack was here. That'd be cool, and boy, oh boy, would it be fun!"

"Yeah, I'm missing his southern accent too. That said, I do not miss the pranks you guys used to pull on us." Will grinned impishly.

*flashback*

Feeling snacky, Ethan patted his pockets for his HP Bananas. Not finding them, he looked all over the inn for them, eventually enlisting the help of several of his partymates. Finally giving up, they met back in the main room. "Hey, looking for these?" called down a voice from above. They looked up, and, sure enough, there were three bananas tied to the chandelier. "Wha-Bu-How!" A man in green slide down the banister. "Thief skills." With that he smoothly popped an MP Candy, and headed back off to his room.

*End Flashback*

"Heheh... ok, maybe some were a little annoying. But c'mon, imagine how much fun he'd be here!"

"Imagine the mayhem. MH would not be happy."

"Yeah, and... yeah fine." Sarah smiled. "Good. Now, off to training?" The others nodded assent, and off they went to the training field. There, their three trainers awaited. They spent the morning working on techniques they never would have needed back in Miitopia, such as double jumping, jump height, and shielding. Sarah had some difficulties with the last one, but time grew short on the morning's session, and it was time for the three to show what they had learned in a match against each of the trainers. Will, the daredevil he is, places a bet with Falco that the trainees would have the better record. (2-1 or 3-0) The wager? A week of dish duty each. For all of them. With that, the first match commenced; Will taking on Falco.

**Will vs. Falco**

Stage: Training Field (Custom)

Music: Battle! (Rival) Pokemon Moon/Sun

Will opened with a strong Raptor Kick, but Falco countered with a couple of good reflector shots and a well-aimed blaster. Falco ran for Will, attempting to throw him off the stage, but Will dodged him and placed an extremely well-aimed kick right onto Falco's backside, sending him out and ending the match.

"Well, that's one win for you guys. Sarah, you're next." Fox stepped up.

**Sarah vs. Fox**

Stage: Training Field (Custom)

Music: Home Run Derby (Brawl)

This was a match built for quick, agile moves and careful placement. After darting around each other for a few seconds, they closed in on each other. Here, Sarah was able to land a solid slash on Fox, and sent him backwards. Fox countered with a fire, a reflect on Sarah's next strike, and a full blaster clip. After almost another minute without any solid contact, Fox landed a solid kick to Sarah's middle to end it.

Sarah slowly walked back to the group, quite sore, but also disappointed in herself. Ethan saw this and walked over to comfort her. "Hey, look at me. You did good, Fox is hard to beat. There's a reason he's one of the Original 12. Don't beat yourself up over a loss, k?" Sarah sniffled. "I thought I had him in the ropes, but I guess I didn't." Ethan tilted her chin up to look at him. "You are an amazing fighter, you can come back from this." With that, he gave her a hug and a kiss on the lips to make her feel better. "I love you, my Swordfighter." "I love you too, my strong, handsome Gunner." "Let's head back to the group, ok?" Sarah nodded, and they walked back to the group holding hands. Will rolled his eyes. "Get a room, you two." Ethan shot a glare at him and started charging a knockback shot on his gun. Fox saw this, and quickly intervened. "Please, let's get on to the last match!" Ethan unloaded his shot. "Fine, but the three of us Miis need to have a little chat afterwards." Fox nodded.

**Ethan vs. Captain Falcon**

Stage: Training Field (Custom)

Music: Menu Theme 1 (Melee)

Ethan and the Captain began the match on opposite sides of the field. "I won't hold back, boy. I hope you're ready." Ethan simply started charging his gun. By now, the training session had drawn quite the audience with more still coming to watch one of the greatest take on a rookie. A quick Raptor Boost and several sneaky jumps and Aerial Bombardments later, both fighters were starting to feel winded. Ethan got caught by an '!' ball (yes I was playing with items for this one, forgot to turn them off) and was stuck in the ground. The Captain lined up his shot for a Falcon Punch, and it looked like it would be over, just like that. But as he unleashed it, a mighty explosion let loose, obscuring everyone's view. The call of "GAME!" came a few short seconds later.

"Ethan!" Sarah dropped to her knees. Fox and Falco both grabbed a couple of other veterans to go in and try to clear the smoke and dust. And as it cleared, the most unusual sight met their eyes...

Nope! Not a cliffhanger yet, there's still another half of the day to get through! "Ethan!" The Gunner, surely wounded, was walking out from the field, carrying an unconscious Captain Falcon on his back. The fighters, all of them, ran to him as he set the Captain down. "Something happened to my gun, I've never seen it d-" he was cut off by Sarah aggressively grabbing his collar and yanking him down for a kiss. As they separated, Link asked "What happened?" Ethan shook his head. "Right as he unleashed his punch, I let loose a fully charged shot, which triggered something explosive on the field. I think it might've been a mine. Right after I shot, I pulled into my shield, and it broke on the shockwave, but protected me from the majority of the damage. The Captain, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky." Link was stunned. "You lucky son of a gun..." Ethan nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me..." and promptly collapsed. As the fallen champion was surrounded by the Smashers, across the field, a dark man seethed in anger, before marching through the trees. Just as quickly as he disappeared, did Sonic return to the group, saying that "Master Hand is on his way. Clear a path!" followed by the aforementioned wizard's arrival, along with his hungover brother in blue, who had an outstanding magical headache.

After the obligatory "what happened" session, each wizard took one fighter and carried them to the medical bay, followed by the train of fighters. Upon arriving and situating the fallen in beds, Master Hand turned to the rest. "Alright, now, the rest of you, SHOO!" Almost everyone quickly obeyed, but Sarah stayed behind. "Please, sir, can I stay? I think Ethan would recover quicker if he knew that I was here. Master Hand nodded. "I figured that you would want to stay even after I sent everyone else away, take a seat next to him." She nodded, grateful, and placed herself next to Ethan. Crazy Hand flipped the lever on the healing beacon in the room (if it always stayed on, the electricity bill would be enormous!) and Sarah watched as first her own scratches, then Ethan's, healed up. "How long do you think it'll take for them to be up?" Crazy shrugged. "I'm not sure. I wish I was, child, but it could be anywhere from a half hour to a week. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, but once Ethan's up, you can take him back to his room and care for him there. All of the rooms have a small beacon built into them for simplicity's sake, but the big one here is more efficient." Sarah nodded. "Who knew you were so wise?" Crazy Hand chuckled. "When I'm not on the sauce, I'm actually quite agreeable. Good luck, I hope they heal quickly." What in reality passed as a few short hours felt for Sarah like days as she sat by Ethan's side. Just as hour five began to wane, and Sarah was giving up hope on them waking up that day, the Captain began to stir. "What happened?"

"Captain! You're all right! There was an explosion, and -"

"Ah... That explains a lot, actually. I assume Ethan won the match?" As Sarah nodded, "Blast Falco's bet. Now I get to do dishes for a week." Sarah giggled, the tension temporarily forgotten. As she settled back down, "Crazy said to head back to your room, that the beacon there will be active." The Captain nodded. "I figured it would. I'll head back there now. I hope Ethan wakes soon." She smiled gratefully as he left the room. As the door closed, a quiet whisper escaped Ethan's lips. "Is he gone now?" Sarah gasped. "You-ETHAN!" He chuckled hoarsely. "I just woke up, don't worry my sweet angel." He sat up. "How long were we out?" Sarah checked outside. "I'd say a few hours. It looks to be about 1700, but I can't tell for certain." He nodded; "I heard you say something about being able to go back to the room?" She smiled. "I assume you want back to your comfy bed?"

"You know me only too well." Sarah helped him to stand, and they gingerly made their way back to his room, where Will waited. As they entered, Will hopped up, preparing to welcome his buddy back but Sarah didn't let him get a word in. "You-out. Now. Let me take care of Ethan in peace. I don't care where you will sleep tonight, but I am taking your bunk. Clear?" He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and mumbled, "Yessum." and duly filed out of the room while Sarah activated the room's beacon and locked the door behind him do she and Ethan could have some privacy. "Hey, you do know I'm almost fully healed, right?" Sarah nodded, "I could tell, you looked like a soccer player faking an injury on the way back with moments of actual pain." Ethan winced. "Was it that obvious?" Sarah nodded as he sat down on the bed. "C'mere, sit down with me. It's lonely all the way over here from your radiance. You do know I would've let you share my bed so Will didn't have to move, right?"

Sarah was taken aback. "Really?"

"Oh come on, we shared a room for four years! Cut me some slack!" She giggled as he wrapped his arm around her side. "Yeah, I guess I hadn't thought about that, huh?" He nodded, as his hand found her waist and gave her a gentle squeeze. He turned towards her. "Hey, you ok? You look kinda nervous about something!" She laughed lightly and nodded, but leaned into him. "I was scared out there. I thought there was a real chance we were gonna lose you today. And... I... I just didn't want something to happen to you so soon after you told me that you like me and-" This time, it was Ethan's turn to interrupt her with a kiss. As she got over the shock, she leaned back into it and melted into his embrace. "I... just don't ever leave me, ok?" He smiled. "I will be with you... always."

"Was that a Star Wars misquote?"

"Maybe?" She rolled her eyes. "You lovable fool."

"I know."

(1): I envision the little one-on-one camera shots like those from _The Office_, if you're wondering.

**A/N: That chapter was way longer than expected, coming in at over 2700 words, easily the longest single section I have ever written! Shout out to the new favoriter/follower, sorry that I don't remember your name! Anyways, that does it for this chapter. What will the hooded figure do next? What will happen between Ethan and Sarah? Where is Will going to stay? And is Zack going to play into this at all? Find this out and more, next time, ON THE TOURNAMENT, RISE OF THE ROOKIES!**


	6. 1-6: Underground

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Chapter 6: Underground

Continuation of MFA+1 (Mii Fighter Arrival +1)

As Will heard the door lock behind him, Fox and Falco hustled up. "Is Ethan up?"

**Will: I just got kicked out of my own room. Yay, me.**

"Yeah, but Sarah's not letting him have any visitors besides his nurse-her. Heck, I don't even have anywhere to stay tonight!" Fox leaned back, surprised. "Wow, really? Uhhh... I guess we need to go talk to Master Hand, huh?"

"Yeah, that's what it looks like." So, off they went to the big boss's office. *knock* The door was opened by Master Hand's cheerful secretary, Isabelle. "The boss is waiting for you, Will! You two get to stay out here, okay? Okay." Will, chuckling, walked through to Master Hand's office, here the mighty wizard was resting. Isabelle ran over to him. "Sir, you can't keep falling asleep when you're waiting on people! It doesn't make a good impression!" He shook his head. "Not asleep, just resting my eyes." With that, he spun his chair to face Will. "So, what can I do for you today?" Will grimaced. "Housing arrangements. Now, don't think this is something against Ethan, but... uh... Sarah has temporarily booted me out of the room so I don't disturb Ethan while he finishes healing after the... accident." Master Hand nodded, taking it all into consideration. "So, we could let Ethan and Sarah stay together permanently, and switch you to a new room full-time, but you'd have to find a new roommate -"

"And I know the perfect guy. His name's Zack, and he's one of the heroes we left at home. Super nice guy, and we get along swell." Master Hand nodded. "It would be about a week before he arrives, so you'd be by yourself until then. Is that okay?" Will smiled. "That's great! Thank you so much!" Master Hand stood to shake his hand. "Isabelle, you may show our guest to the door now." After being guided out, he met up with his two Star Fox companions. "So how'd it go, Will?"

"Well, Fox..."

"So, Ethan and Sarah are staying together, and you're getting a new guy?"

"Exactly, Falco!" Falco had an impressed look on his face, if it's possible for a bird to look impressed. "But what I didn't tell him is that the prank rate is about to spike through the roof."

"Right off the bat, can we ask for prank immunity?" Will considered it. "Depends on what you want immunity from, Fox. If you just want out period, then no. But if you're willing to help, then perhaps a deal can be made..." The two Star Fox allies looked at each with a grin. "We're in. First mission?"

"Well, he may not be a full Smasher, but that still doesn't mean he won't get the obligatory prank greeting, right?" With this all three of them were wearing grins on their faces. "We actually set something up if in the eventual case of we had a couple more pranksters join the mansion. It's down in the conference rooms." Fox said.

"There are conference rooms?"

"Well yeah, and nobody's ever used them except for us when we set up...

The Prank Planning Committee!" cried Falco.

"Not a bad name, huh?" Will nodded, "Lacks subtlety, though, Fox. Maybe change it to something a little bit more hidden?" Fox shook his head. "Most people don't even know there's a downstairs, which is why the committee only has signs down there and word is almost all word-of-mouth. So, the name's fine!"

"Huh, clever."

"Thanks!"

"So who wants to tell the lovebirds they get to-"

"Tell the lovebirds what?" The three slowly turned around, to the sight of one Gunner and one Swordfighter. "Heh... no-I got a new room..."

"Will, I'm not gonna lie, I thought she was banning you permanently from the room, so I guess in a way she was. Now, about the Zack matter..." Will sighed. "I know, Ethan, I should've asked, blah blah-"

"Nah, I think it's a good idea. It'll make life more interesting here. Plus, he'll get here just in time for the Rumble tournament, right?" Will considered the statement. "I hadn't thought about that. Yeah, he would get here just in time for him to be able to see me kick your butt, but yeah, that'd be fun!"

"You? Kick my butt? Puh-leez." Sarah rolled her eyes.

**Sarah: Boys... What are you going to do? And it's about to get worse... A shade of green worse.**

By this time, the five Smashers had reached Will's new digs. "Well, let's see how these look." With that he unlocked the door, and stepped in. "Wow... this is a good size. That may be because Ethan's stuff isn't cluttering the floor, but-"

"Oi! I'm right here!"

Will rolled his eyes and laughed. "So, I guess I need to move my stuff so Sarah can move her stuff, right?" Sarah smiled sweetly. "Yes, please." Ethan raised an eyebrow at Will. "Better get moving, then. Otherwise, she may just give you the boot and you have to collect your stuff from outside once she chucks it out the window!" Sarah took an offended look, "I don't know why you would think that!" but failed to keep a straight face as she finished the statement.

2 Miles away, in the depths of the woods...

The hooded man finished his work on a machine and stood up. "You and you, take this down and load it into one of the hovercrafts, we launch the main assault in two weeks on my mark... Mark. The clock is running." He slowly grew a maniacal grin. "This is it, all that remains is the logistics. The mansion will have no idea of what's coming... and I will finally get my revenge. And oh boy, will the big boss be happy." The two henchmen he assigned to accomplish the task of moving the machine through the underground base slowly made their way towards the loading bays. Meanwhile a woman in yellow stepped into the room. "Sir, the others are ready for the logistics meeting."

"Ah, thank you, Savannah. Tell them I'll be there in a few minutes." She grimaced. "The big boss is here. I wouldn't keep his waiting, Daniel." His eyes widened. "Oh, hell. I'm on my way. You three, keep working on some more of these for back ups in case those nincompoops make more delivery mistakes." The tallest of the three, a man in pink, saluted. "It will be done, sir."

"Now, let's not keep the boss waiting any longer than we have to. Show the way, milady." She giggled. "Of course, sir. After me." She turned away and whispered into a microphone on her sleeve: "Night is incoming. Prepare Light, Dawn, and Autumn for the arrival of Pilot. Sunshine over."

**A/N: Well, so now we know the identity of the hooded man, but who is this mysterious boss? And will Will be able to move all of his stuff before Sarah sends it Air Mail out the window? Find out, next time on The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies!**


	7. 1-7: Traitors

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Chapter 7: Traitors

**Hey everyone! It's Will. So, apparently we have to put in a disclaimer about not owning any of the characters, and that me and the other Miis are human and that none of the music is the author's either. So yeah. Yay... Fine print. Blech. Anyway enough fourth wall breaking, it's off to the story (It's my chapter again!)**

MFA+2

Will silently gave a shout for joy as he relocated his last box and handed Sarah the key to the room. As he reached his room and opened his door, however, a note was sitting on his bed. "Huh? What's this?" Will being a curious person, he opened it and read it. It says...

"Hey Will. I know that our last interaction didn't go so well, but you need to trust me on this. Daniel will launch an attack with his men in six days, and he's been building some kind of machine. He won't tell me what it is. He knows that there's a mole in is team, but he doesn't know it's me, he trusts me too much to even suspect. There are three other main fighters on his team -Luke, David, and Amanda. He doesn't think I can fight, so he'll leave me behind for the assault. I'll try to cause some chaos, but you need to call as many of the team here as possible. He's already planted traps all around the outside of the mansion-your friend triggered one yesterday. Please show this to Master Hand, he's the only one who can truly help you organize the meeting Daniel wants to have.

I still love you,

Savannah, your Sunshine."

Will dashed a tear from his eye at the mention of her name. As he built up resolve to go see Master Hand, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Who's there?"

"It's-a Luigi. You-a have someone at-a the door to the mansion." Will was surprised -the only person he knew that might come to mansion would be Jebediah, but he was busy doing pilot things, so he didn't know who to expect. "Alright, I'm coming." He opened the door and walked down to the front with Luigi. He opened the door, and the sight that met him was a surprise. "Will!"

"Savannah?" The girl standing opposite him nodded. "Man, you don't look so hot right now. What happened? And I thought you were with... you-know-who." She signed and looked away. "I was, but not long after I sent the note, he actually found me out. So I just had to run here, chased by his creations, all the while avoiding the traps. Have you talked to Master Hand yet?" Will shook his head. "I just read the note. I'm sorry you got found, you got me a lot of information, sunshine. That said, I can take the note to MH and have you here for evid-i mean, backup." Savannah rolled her eyes. "Can you at least let me into the mansion?"

"Oh, um, yeah, c'mon in. I'll try to get an appointment with MH, but he's really busy and -" Savannah's face lit up as she entered the mansion, despite all of the small scratches on her arms and face. "It's beautiful here." Will thought briefly about making a corny joke, but decided against it. "Here, let's get you back to my room and we can heal you up. You can stay there at least until Zack gets here next week." She nodded and followed Will back to his room. "So... how much do you know about the attack?" Savannah shook her head. "Not much. I know that it will be on two fronts-one here at the mansion, and the other aimed towards the Grand Stadium. And did you just say my little brother was coming next week?" Will nodded. "Yeah, Zack should actually get here just about the day of the attack." Savannah smiled. "It's been so long since I've seen Zack. It'll be so good to catch up!"

"Yeah, but knowing him, he'll probably spend the whole time planning a prank on you."

"Yeah, maybe." So, Will and Savannah headed off to the big man's office where Isabelle dutifully performed the necessary introductions. "Wait, so you're Master Hand? I thought you were just a, well, hand!" Master Hand laughed. "No, child. I commonly use some of my magic to take this form, it's easier to get things done like this. However, it does make meweaker, so if something extremely dangerous happens, I'd be forced to go into hand mode to be strong enough to fight it. Same applies to Crazy, although his favorite perk is being able to drink alcohol at night." Right as he said that, Crazy poked his head in. "I heard my name?" Master Hand sighed and shook his head. "No, I don't need you right now, brother. You can go back to watching your sports now."

"Alright, just checking." He popped his head back out of the office. Master Hand sighed. "Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, though. So, what brings you to the mansion, besides Will?" Savannah grimaced, then told her story.

"So what you're saying is that Daniel and his goons are planning to attack the stadium and the mansion simultaneously, and he planted the bomb yesterday that incapacitated two of our strongest fighters?" Savannah nodded. "And he's not the leader, someone else is. I only know him by his codename... Pilot. Does that remind you of anyone?" MH shook his head. "I'll ask around, though, see what I can find out. Surely someone somewhere here knows something about the name." She nodded. "I have another question. Is there somewhere I can I stay for now? I... I was sending in reports to Will occasionally, but they found out my secret and locked me out." Master Hand nodded. "You can stay with Will for now until we figure something permanent out."

"Thank you for your kindness, sir." He waved his hand, dismissively. "No, no, you deserve it for being able to give us this much warning. Hopefully he doesn't get us all riled up for nothing, though." Will nodded. "Although, speaking from past experiences, it's more than likely he's still going to go for it. He's... done numerous things back home, but this is definitely his largest operation, in terms of scale and -possible- impact." Master Hand shook his head. "It's... terrifying. The fact that we know this far in advance is a huge advantage. We'll have to make sure the stands at the stadium are clear, if we can." Will nodded. "We'll leave you to the planning. Savannah and I have some catching up to do; it's been too long since we've seen each other." This was followed by a pair shy smiles between the pair of Miis. Master Hand waved dismissively. "Yes, you can go. Go have fun, relax. I need to find out a way to spread the news among everyone here. This may not end well for everyone..."

A few minutes later, further down the hall...

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie, knowing that the Hands have human forms threw me for a loop." Will laughed. "Yeah, I think we all had the same reaction when we first found out. Here, let me show you to the room, if I may?"

"Lead on, good sir." *giggle giggle* Will sighed. "Man, you have idea how good it is to see you again. It feels like so long since the gang's all been together, and it's gonna happen next week!" She nodded. "Yeah... how is everyone, by the way?" Will shook his head. "There's a lot you missed, chiefly among them Ethan and Sarah finally becoming the power couple we all hoped they'd be. I've been playing third wheel-and doing it well, mid you! -since we arrived, pretty much, but the auth-I mean, the cameras have been paying more attention to me since yesterday which is a story in itself..." *recites all portions of Chapters 5 & 6 of which he was a part of* "Oh my sweet gumballs... Ethan was incapacitated? And one of the Big 12? By just one of the mines..." Will nodded. "Yeah, it's been a brutal eighteen hours. He was unconscious for five and a half hours yesterday, and probably would have been out longer if-wait did you say just one of the mines? How many are there?" Savannah grimaced. "Daniel planted somewhere between ten and fifteen of them." Will's eyes widened. "Oh sweet gumballs indeed. So... should we slip MH a note under the door or something?" She shook her head. "Let's let him strategize for a while first, then we can slip him the note. Deal?" Will nodded. "Deal. And perfect time, too. We've reached the room!" Savannah studied the door intently. "How do you know which one your room is? There's nothing here to mark it as yours!" Will shrugged. "Gut feeling. Plus, there's this." He touched the handle of the door and it flashed blue. "Oh."

"Cool, huh?" Savannah nodded. "Yeah, that's... weird but cool." Will grinned eagerly. "I know, right!? You should see some of the tech Ethan and I have built since we got here... We've gotten more done yesterday than we had all week!" Savannah raised an eyebrow. "When did you get to be a techie? Ethan's always been a techie, but you?" Will laughed nervously as he unlocked the door "Well, he's kinda rubbed off on me a little bit..." Savannah's jaw dropped as she saw the things inside...

In the woodlands bunker...

"What do you mean she made it to the mansion!?" Daniel paled. "She betrayed us and got away before we noticed. By the time we did she was already gone, sir." The hologram opposite him shook its head. "Disappointing. I expected so much more from you."

"It won't happen aga-" "It better not. Do I need to come and give a talk on loyalty again?" Daniel swallowed nervously. "No, sir." He saluted the hologram as the boss cut the connection. "Damn Tabuu... He's probably gonna backstab me anyways. I need to ally with someone stronger... YOU!" He pointed to one of his goons in the room. "Who the hell beat Tabuu his last attack?" "Th-that would be the Smashers, sir. They're the only ones to have defeated him." Daniel kicked one of the many small pebbles on the floor. "Hell!" The henchman took an unwilling step backwards. "S-sir, should I give you a few minutes?" Daniel nodded. "Get out of my sight... I feel like punching something right now; make sure it's not you!" For lack of better descriptive term, the henchman scampered out of the room. "Damn it, I don't want to ally with the Smashers, not yet at least. He may not turn on me. That would be ideal, but I need contingencies. And Savannah's disappearance creates a whole more of things that could go wrong... I need an inside man. But who...?"

**A/N: So, what will happen next? Will he try to bring Savannah back to his cause? Will he try to sway a villain? Will he plant someone new? And Tabuu... Will the fighters find out that's who it is? Or will he stay hidden and let Daniel complete the attack? And was have Will and Ethan built? Find out as the season finale comes closer and closer, next time, on The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies!**


	8. 1-8: Technology and Darkness Part 1

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Chapter 8: Technology and Darkness, Part 1

**Hey everyone! It's Ethan today. This chapter marks the beginning of the season finale (not sure if it'll be a 2 or a 3-part)! Again, I include the same disclaimer Will used last chapter, and please read and review! Thanks again!**

Savannah's jaw dropped as Will unveiled the first of his creations. "These are amazing! Will... I..." Will laughed. "Yeah, it's quite literally a nanobot suit of armor. Ethan and Sarah both have one, as well. You wanna see it?" Savannah nodded eagerly. Will grinned and placed his arm into the container and the red suit of armor slowly formed up his arm, ending with forming a mask around his face, think Iron Man in Infinity War (R.I.P., never forget.) His voice came out from a audio port under his chin. "Whaddya think? I got the idea from a science-fiction movie we watched on the way here." Savannah was left speechless. "It's..." However, she never finished the thought. The ground rumbled, and a loud crack sounded outside. Will's eyes widened and he grabbed a small device sitting next to the generator. "Hold still for a minute." The machine scanned Savannah and transmitted something to the chamber. "Alright go ahead, stick your arm in." Savannah hesitated. "It's perfectly safe, I promise." She nodded and stuck her hand in. The same process that Will just underwent happened to her, except with yellow. While this was happening, Will grabbed what we know as a walkie-talker and called into it. "Guns and Roses, this is Fists. Come in." The receiver crackles as Sarah's chestpiece began to form. "Roger Fists. This is Guns, Roses is right next to me. Is this about the rumbles?" "Affirmative. Please report to nanobot chamber for suiting." "Roger, ETA 3 minutes. Is Savannah with you? We heard she was here." "Yeah. She's getting suited now-" *facemask clanks* "Correction. She is suited. Should we proceed to impact zone?" Static for a few seconds, then: "Yeah, go ahead. We'll meet you on the way out." Will clicked the receiver off. "You heard them. Let's roll out."

"Cool, you first. I don't know my way around this place." Will nodded and passed out of the door, followed closely by Savannah. They passed Ethan and Sarah at the end of the hall. "Looking good, Savannah!" Savannah blushed under her helm. "Thanks, Ethan. These are really cool!" Ethan nodded as the two pairs passed. "C'mon, we don't know what happened." Will interrupted her reverie. "Right. Coming!" She followed him down to the front door of the mansion as he continued telling her about the features of the suit. "So, now because I had more time to create mine, mine has more features, like flight and blast shielding. Yours just has the basic protection, but it should still hold up well against most stuff." She nodded. "Cool, got it. Weapons systems?" Will thought for a second. "I'm pretty sure yours just has the standard hand lasers, but we'll give it more fancy boom guns later. Good thinking, though, for the attack." He pushed through the front door, and the sight that met them was hellish at best. "Oh my god... why is the author so mean?" "Who?" "Nothing, nevermind." The suits' built in headsets crackled. "Will, status report." Will shook his head. "It doesn't look good. I'm counting at least five craters and numerous large fires. A couple of assorted mons-WAIT WHAT? OH MY HECK THIS IS A FULL-FLEDGED ATTACK! THIS ISN'T A MINE STRIKE!" The ground rumbled as a blue suit touched down next to them. "No sh$%, Sherlock. This is bad. I haven't seen this since the desert..." Ethan came over the speakers as his orange suit touched down, with its two shoulder stripes denoting his position as captain. "Language." Will shook his head. "Where do we go, captain?" Ethan did a quick scan of what used to be the front lawn of the mansion. "Split up. Savannah, Sarah, you guys go and help Fox and Falco. Will, you and I need to help the Mushroom Heroes." Sarah saluted. "Yessir. C'mon, girlie you heard the boss. Activate reticle targeting system for Sarah and Savannah." Both of their visors adjusted with the new software running and several targets appeared in the direction they headed. Sarah took off the ground and hit the afterburners on her thrusters, while Savannah was able to take long, looking steps, firing off short laser blasts as she went. In the distance, Will stuttered as he asked, "Is no one else going to talk about why Ethan literally said 'Language'? What is this, _Avengers: Age of Ultron_?" In Sarah's hands materialized a pair of long swords as she sped faster and faster towards her target while Savannah loped along behind her, charging up a powerful laser. As Sarah reached her target, her thrusters executed a perfect spin, allowing her to get the maximum force on her two slices through the monster, disintegrating her target. "Hey boys, you look like you could use a little help." Fox rolled his eyes as he landed several shots onto the abomination he faced. "Yeah, thanks for the off-" He was cut off as the monster he was fighting, along with several others around it, were cut in half by a large, yellow laser. "Actually, just thanks is fine." Chirped Savannah as she backflipped over the astonished fox, firing off several smaller lasers. "What, just gonna gawk now, or are you actually gonna help?" Fox shook his head and snapped out of it, teaming up with the two girls to take out the rest of the monsters in their sector in what can only be described as a laser light show. On the other side of the cratered field... "Will, you need to let the boom guns run! We're getting overrun!" "Yessir, activating boom guns 1-4. Calling in Iron Guardians 1, 4, 5, and 6." Four cannons pulled out of his suit, targeting four different monsters, and obliterating them with powerful cannon shots. "Sir, it's not going to be enough! We need to call in the rest of the team." Ethan sighed. "You're right. Computer, contact Zack and tell him to get the whole team suited up in less than five minutes, and activate his portal." The computer chimed, confirming it was sent and received. Ethan tossed a small circular disk onto the ground and pushed a few buttons. "We just need to hold out for a few minutes..." Four automated suits flew overhead providing aerial support and bombardment. "I hope the others are holding out better than we are..."

Sarah, Savannah, Fox, and Falco, having finished with all of the monsters on their section, had since moved forward to help other teams. The first that they came across was Samus, desperately fighting off a large group by herself. The girls waved Fox and Falco forward towards the Hyrulian fighters, and charged into battle to provide more firepower to help Samus.

Across the field, the disk Ethan tossed down began to rumble as a rift began to open it. On the other side of the portal stood five suits, in full combat mode. Ethan's headset crackled, as five new connections came online. "Captain, you've reached backup. This is Zack." A lime green suit with one dark shoulder strap stepped through. "Drake." A dark blue suit tumbled through, double arm guns at the ready. "Sophia." A shorter pink suit launched through the portal in full thruster mode, swords drawn. "Gabriel." A dark green suit stepped through, combat staff at the ready. "And Audrey." A purple suit stepped through, her healing gear strewn over her shoulders. Zack boosted up to stand next to Ethan, and saluted. "Sir, Bravo Platoon reporting. Sorry we're late to the party." The two leaders fist bumped. "Just in time, Zack. You see our target?" He nodded. "Oh yeah. Go time?" "Affirmative." Zack nodded, then called out to his team. "Bravo Platoon, let's blow this popsicle stand!" He formed his energy compacters around his fist and led his team as they flew in. As they charged in, however, a huge purple explosion erupted from the front of the lawn, farthest away from the mansion. A man in black stepped out and signaled to the monsters, who pulled away back to the forest. Ethan scowled, and signaled his team to land in front of the man and radioed his instructions to Sarah and Savannah. As the nine fighters flew in and landed, the dark man grew an evil smile. "Well, well, what do we have here? Bravo team? Laser tag?" He scoffed. "Child's play." Ethan snarled. "You bluff. I'd like to see you get hit by one of the lasers from Drake's suit." Drake, exploiting the time to show off, fired a few quick shots off and blew on his guns to cool them off. The black-suited man sneered. "Weak. Bring out the Helios for a... demonstration test." Two men pulled out a large contraption that seemingly glowed with energy. Will turned to Ethan. "That looks like the Apollo..." Ethan nodded. "Yep, wonder where he got the plans from?" The man opposite them raised his hood, revealing a black suit similar to that of the Iron Guardians. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous." He signaled with his hand, and the weap next to him fired a shot directly at the mansion only for it to be deflected by shield, which stuttered, then held, as a hand walked (?) out the front door. Daniel's eyes widened. "Oh, hell. I think that's our invitation to leave, boys. Let's get out of here." He snapped, and his team faded away. As Master Hand arrived at the battlefield, Ethan strode out to meet him, head hung in shame. "Sir, I'm sorry we weren't able to get to him. Somehow, it seems he's gotten the plans to most of our designs. It doesn't look good if this was just a preliminary attack, which Gabe, who's our tactician, believes it was." Master Hand thought for a while. "Go send two of your crew to go check on the Stadium, make sure there's not an attack in progress there." Ethan nodded, and signaled Gabe and Audrey to go take a look. The two took off in afterburners, and soon vanished from sight. Master Hand began to speak again. "Give me a status report, everyone." Mario stepped forward. "Yoshi's out for the-a count, and Bowser's a-stunned." Marth stepped forward, supporting a limping Ike. "Ike got hurt in one of the opening mine explosions." Link stepped up. "Toon got a nice knock to the head." Eventually, it seemed one in almost every five Smashers was down or hurt. Then, the radio crackled. "Sir, this is Gabe. Permission to report?" Ethan tapped his comms. "Report, Delta Detachment." "Stadium is clear. There seemed to be a scouting force here, but we fought them off. No intel for the enemy." Ethan sighed in relief and delayed the information to the hand. "You guys stay over there and keep us posted, clear?" "Clear as glass, sir. Delta out."

**A/N: Wow... Lots of action! Feels like it needs a **_**Lord of the Rings**_**-type soundtrack! So, what will happen next time? Will the Stadium be attacked? Will the mansion be attacked again? Will Crazy Hand show up and **_**flick**_** butt? (Hand pun, heh) What's Tabuu's reaction to the preliminary attack's seeming success? And will the author finally be able to stick to a weekly upload schedule? Find out next week (hopefully) on The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies as the season finale continues!**


	9. 1-9: Technology and Darkness Part 2

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Chapter 9: Technology and Darkness, Part 2

**Hey everyone! Zack here. I know we haven't really talked about me much (except for my EPIC Endgame-style entrance last chapter *wink wink*) but somehow I got the tap for the disclaimer. I don't own the characters, the music, or the game itself. This is a heavily stylized take on SSB, but please read and review, as the season finale continues!**

MFA+8, 0830

"Scheduled Rookie Rumble start postponed one week. Those are the headlines the nine of us woke up to this morning. After having been attacked on a smaller scale three more times over the last five days, they finally decided to postpone the tournament on the grounds of 'safety'. Like, dude, I get it. The mansion is now a battlefield. Craters cover the lawn, the forest is burning. This... is not okay." Ethan dashes a tear from his eye. Sarah consolingly wraps an arm around his shoulders. "I'm worried for the safety of the citizens here, and for the town itself. If we fall, what's to stop them from decimating the town? You all know your battle stations, and you've so been trained in your weapons- *ahem* except you, Audrey. You're the healer. You bounce, you fly, you... what's your term? Zoop?" The woman in the purple hoodie nodded. "Yeah. You got a problem with it?" He shook his head. "Nope, no issues. Will, your cannons have been doubled, and now they're explosive. Sarah, your swords have been sharpened so much, that you can cut yourself just by looking at them." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "What's with you an movie references? First, all the _Avengers _references, now _Kung Fu Panda_?" Ethan leaned back. "You... got the reference? Ehm... Moving on... Savannah, since you're now leading your own detachment, you have a shoulder strap. I'm pretty sure it's pink. *happy squeal* Your lasers now cut through steel like butter, so please be careful when you're aiming, or you might take our heads off. Zack, your power fists now have a mechanical punch, and your shurikens now can stick in anything solid. Drake, your guns now fire solid lead slugs, and they are a punch." Drake grinned. "Sophie, your swords are now shorter, throwable versions of Sarah's swords-you have daggers, essentially. Gabe... Oh, Gabe. Your recon gear has, well, take a look." He pulls out a tactical helmet, sleek and camouflaged. "Looks good, right?" Gabe smirks. "Helmet, what helmet? I don't see this helmet you speak of!" Savannah snickered. "You walked into it, Ethan." Ethan sighed. "Yeah, I did. Audrey, we've added top-of-the-line equipment to your arsenal, including what Will and I are calling... Portal Guns. These are, well epic. You're gonna need to train with these, take them out into the courtyard, but please be careful." The purple woman nodded, touched the gun, and, well, zooped out of existence. Ethan jumped. "Yeesh, never fails to scare me. Alright, the rest of you know your positions. Bravo (Zack, Drake, and Sophie), you guys are gonna be positioned at the stadium. Alpha (Ethan, Sarah, and Will) will be on duty here. Charlie (Savannah, Gabe, Audrey) will bounce around around to wherever they are needed and provide tactical support, and Gabe will be directing the Iron Guardians for aerial support. Is everyone clear?" A blue portal opened up in the wall and Audrey stepped through and picked up a microphone transmitter that. "Yep, clear as glass." Ethan opened his mouth to say something about how zooping into the middle of a talk was not cool, but thought better of it. A knock sounded at the opening to the conference room. Ethan looked up to spot Fox at the door. Ethan nodded, already knowing why he was here. He checked the time-0900. Ethan stood and put his fist in the middle. "For the safety of this world, its residents, and its allies." The rest of the group put their fists in the middle, matching the gesture. "Savannah, take the tac team and go out through Audrey's portal. Gabe, get those recon reports coming in ASAP." The three nodded as the team's suits began to materialize around them, and Savannah led them out the portal. "Bravo, hit the Stadium fast. Will, Sarah, let's do this." One of the few surviving images of the attack pictures the six remaining team members walking out the front door in full gear, with all their weapons extended, as the tactical team flies overhead. Gabe's first report soon came in. "Sir, the Stadium looks clear for now, but there's definitely a disruption down there. The woods are becoming loaded with beasts, get ready." Ethan nodded, and signaled Bravo to head out. Will widened his stance to prepare for the recoil of his guns, and Sarah drew her newly sharpened swords, and one monster's head dropped off just from looking at it. Ethan snorted, "Will, I thought you were joking when you said it was that sharp!"

"Nope, definitely that sharp."

**Bravo Platoon**

Zack landed on the side of the roof of the Stadium as several Smashers filtered in to the various parts of the Stadium. He opened his comms; "Stadium's clear for now. How long this'll last, I can't say. Good luck back at the mansion. Bravo out." He sighed as he closed his comms while his two teammates landed next to him. "Well, let's see how long this peace lasts. You brought the snacks, right, Drake?" The tall man grinned and pulled a couple of sandwiches and granola bars from his bag. "Lil Mac sends his warmest wishes." Sophie laughed. "Of course he does. When do we eat?" Zack checked his watch. "Not for another half hour, and that's assuming it's still all clear then."

**Tactical Team, Airspace over the mansion, 0935**

Gabe looked around as his sensors picked up readings. "Sir, we have the first batch coming in now. Looks like they're heading towards the Hyrulians and Cornerians, with a couple heading towards Samus. No need for concern yet."

**Alpha Platoon, Front lawn of mansion, 0936**

"Rog, thanks." Ethan sighed and tried to release some of the tension from his shoulders. It wouldn't be good for him to be sore before the attack even started! He looked around at the assembled Smashers... most of the Pokemon, the Hyrulians, the Cornerians, Samus, the boys from Mother, and most of the third-party fighters. Team Toadstool, Mario and gang, where stationed over at the Stadium, as was everyone else but Snake, who was positioned up on the roof providing tactical support for the rest of the Smashers at the mansion. The Fire Emblems were being held as backup, in case they were needed somewhere, with Robin being the one in charge of the group. Ethan sighed. It wouldn't do for him to be too concerned about the other groups, his first concern was his own team. Speaking of his own team...

**Tac Team, 0940**

This time, Savannah came over the comms, Gabe giving her the information. "We got a big group, looking to overwhelm the Cornerians. Second group coming for the Pokemon, minor level concern." No sooner had those words been transmitted than...

**Front lawn, space between Alpha rally point and Cornerians, 0940**

Will charged across the field, loading his cannons. "**You leave my friends alone!**" This for everyone's attention as multiple explosive projectiles came screaming in at high speeds, followed by some _gratuitous explosions_. Ethan nodded, impressed, back at the rally point. "Well, it's unorthodox, but it works." (A/N: That's actually a phrase I use a lot. *shrug*)

That wave was polished off in just a few minutes with Will's gratuitous explosions.

**Bravo Platoon, Grand Stadium roof, 1000**

Drake turned to the two others on the roof. "Can we have our snacks now?" Zack nodded. "Yeah, I told you a half hour, and here we are." The words hadn't even made it all the way out of his mouth before Sophie and Drake had already grabbed sandwiches at the word 'Yeah', not waiting to hear the rest. Zack's communications with the rest of the Stadium Squad crackled. Captain Falcon's voice came over, with an urgent tone in his voice. "Hey, we just had a little disruption in the loading bay. It's been taken care of, but stay alert."

**Tac Team, airspace over mansion, 1015**

As time seemingly dragged on, nerves ratcheted higher and higher. At last, Gabe's sensors picked something up. Something big. "Hey, ah, guys? It looks like we got a Cat VII heading in hot, not airborne." (size is measured on a scale from I to XII being largest)

**Alpha Platoon**

Ethan and Sarah exchanged worried glances. "Savannah, we may need your steel slicers for this."

"Ro... Cat X-XI. Heck." Ethan and Will shared nervous glances. "Get on the line with the Emblems. We may need them sooner than anticipated. And Gabe? If something larger comes in, feel free to swear, and call in four Iron Guardians."

"I think I'm going to go ahead and call in two IG's now." Thrusters screamed overhead as two suits of armor flew into position as the Cat VII came into view, it appeared to be some kind of golem; one of the worst kinds of monsters from home, as it headed towards the already weakened Pokemon sector. "Coordinating aerial strike... Commencing." Each suit launched four missiles, aimed at the monster's weak points. That combined with a well timed Vine Whip, Aura Sphere, and Thunderbolt soon reduced the golem to rubble. It was now time to face the big threat. *rumble... Rumble... RUMBLE... **RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE* **Ethan's jaw dropped to the dirt. "Oh my f %#." Gabe staggered back on the roof. "Calling in the other six IGs. This is bad." Savannah charged up her lasers. Will loaded all ten of his cannons. Ethan charged his hand gun and prepared the weapon the team liked to call the boom stick. Audrey, seemingly the only one without a weapon, aimed her portal gun to try and create some mayhem with the device facing them. Link's voice came over the mics. "Dream Land, watch out. That mech is headed straight for you guys!"

**A/N: So... A three-part season finale. A nice, even ten chapters. Approximate total length as of Chapter 9: 16-17 THOUSAND words! This is the longest thing I've ever written by a long, due to just how genuinely fun writing this series is! Chapter 10 I'm hoping will be a long chapter, somewhere in the realm of 2.5-3K words, which should get Season One to the esteemed 20 K word mark! Anyway, on to what I normally do...**

**A mech approaches. Who will step up to fight it? Who is piloting it? Will Bravo Platoon get to do something other than comic relief with sandwiches? Where's Daniel and his three fighter buddies? And most importantly... what will happen to the mansion? Do Ethan and Will have more hidden tech? Will the Iron Guardians be used to their full potential? What havoc will be wreaked with a portal "zoop" gun? Will the author finally figure out his biweekly release schedule? Find out, in the final part of the season finale, next time on The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Technology and Darkness Part 3!**


	10. 1-10: Tech&Dark 3, 4Sibling, 5Aftermaths

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Chapter 10: Technology and Darkness, Part 3

**Mansion Front Lawn, Tac Team and Alpha Platoon, 1020 (MFA+8)**

The mech(1)'s booming footsteps grew louder as the three Dream Landers dove out of its way. Ethan and Will took to the air and met with the three airborne tactical members. "Gabe, get the Emblems out here. Check with Bravo, see if we can grab Drake. Sarah, get the Hands. Will, Savannah, I need you to make sure the thing's distracted. Audrey... It's time to make some portal havoc. I'm going to rally the fighters, and get the Arwings in the air. Gabe, keep the IGs aimed and ready in the meantime." The team split to accomplish their tasks, and Will and Savannah headed towards the mech they faced, taunting all the way. Ethan flew towards the Cornerians. "Fox! Falco! We need the Arwings in the air!" Fox nodded as they dashed off. "Consider it done. Falco, get Wolf on the line, we're gonna need him." Ethan started in surprise that they would turn to a villain in their time of need, but then remembered that the three actually got along decently now. He flew on to the next group.

**Gabe, Airspace over mansion, 1025**

"Yeah, that's right. A mech. We need your guys' help. Cool, thanks. See you out here in a few for the quick brief." He switched his communications channel. "Hey Zack, can we grab Drake?"

"Why do you need him?"

"Do the words 'Category Eleven' make sense?" Zack choked on something on the other end of the line. "Yeah, sending him your way now."

**Bravo Platoon, Stadium roof, 1030**

"Drake, Alpha needs you. Cat 11. Mechanical origin, from what I gather." Drake nodded. "On it." His thrusters sprang to life as he activated his hand thrusters for an extra kick in the pants. In no time, he was out of sight. "So... Back to the sandwich?" Sophie asked. "Yeah."

**Ethan, Front lawn of mansion, 1032**

In no time, Ethan reached the general direction of the Hyrulians, where the Dream Landers had taken shelter from the mech. Ethan soon realized he wouldn't be needed, as Zelda was sparking the two teams into action. So, off he went to the rest of the unaffiliated/solo rookies: Ryu, Shulk, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, Pac-Man, Duck Hunt, Mega Man, Bayonetta, Cloud, and they were led by Little Mac, who was already pointing out the places they needed to aim for with his boxer's eye. Ethan landed next to the group. "Hey Mac, you got them?" Lil Mac turned with a grin. "Yeah, I got em. PT's got the Pokemon here under control as well, you go lead your group."

**Gabe/Audrey, Airspace over mansion, 1035**

As Audrey flew up to meet her brother for a check, they heard a loud crack as a green blur flew into view. Gabe's missile radar system yelled a warning, and he tackled his sister to the ground. His second reaction, as he hit the ground with an "oof" and a thud, was "Oh, it's probably Drake," who shot overhead as he slowed down and zooped through one of Audrey's open portals to behind the mech, where he shot two well-aimed slugs at a knee joint in the walker's armor. The seven (A/N: I don't remember if Corrin is FE or FF, but for now, I'll stick her there.) Emblems came out of the mansion, followed by a floating, weakened Master Hand (he'd been sapped of his energy deflecting Helios blasts away from the mansion in the third skirmish until he finally got a lucky deflect right towards Fox and Falco, who used their reflects to bounce the beam back to the weapon, disabling it. Not in a chapter, but canon) and the ten Iron Guardians flying overhead, having finally been released from the mechanical repairs area. The seven present Miis formed an arrow facing towards the mech with Ethan and the other two ranged Miis (Drake and Savannah) at its center. "Drake, load your slugs. Savvy, get those lasers going."

"Don't call me that."

"Right, noted in the minutes. Update virtual log." It was Drake's turn to be surprised. "You're really taking minutes?"

"Well, duh. This counts as a field meeting, same as any other ops we've done." Drake shrugged. "Yeah, sure." The walker stopped moving, and a humming sort of sound began emanating from it. Back in the steps, Master Hand swirled his fingers(?!) and a beam similar to that of the Helios/Apollo came out. It hit the walker and it was... absorbed? (Wuh wo, twist!)

Music: _Young and Menace_ by Fall Out Boy (2)

A blue shield glew (glowed?) into existence around the body of the walker, but it was obvious that the heavily-armored legs were exposed, and that the mech pilots were heavily relying on the armor. Two cannons came out of the underside of the cockpit. Will staggered back. "Okay, this is literally a miniature AT-AT walker. What was the author thinking? He's gonna get stuck down by a copyright ban faster than he can say 'READ THE DISCLAIMER I SAID I DIDNT OWN IT WAIT IT WAS IN THE FOOTNOTES AAAAAAAAAHHHH PAINS!' Wait we forgot the disclaimer!" Ethan smacked him upside the head. "Yeah, well, it's the middle of the chapter now. Can't put it in now..."

"Time trav-"

"No! We are not doing those shenanigans again! Plus, the author JUST fixed his fourth wall, and what did you? You destroyed it!" Will pouted as a new sound entered the fray. The sound of fighter engines. Ethan's radio squeaked and popped as two blue (and one green) Arwings flew overhead. "I see your problem with the shielding," Fox said. Falco chirped up. "Do you think we can go _Empire Strikes Back_ mode, while we're keeping up the Star Wars references?" As he finished the statement, the green Arwing pulled away from its blue brethren and began to dive between the legs of the mech. A laser cable (meh, I don't know if that's a thing that they'd have) snaked out from the rear of the sinking fighter craft and latched onto the leg of the walker. As Wolf pulled off crazy snaking maneuver after crazy maneuver, the legs of the walker slowly pulled together and it began to tip towards the small fighter as it roped around and the walker tilted in unison. "Cut the cable, Wolf! She's gonna tip!" Wolf cut the cable and the walker tilted... tilted... wibbled... wobbled... "Alright, this is stupid." Wolf dove towards the unshielded feet of the walker and unleashed several larger versions of Samus' blue missiles at one foot, leaving it utterly destroyed. With that, the walker stopped wibble-wobbling and just tipped.

_**SHIRAKA-BOOSH! (3)**_

**CHAPTER 10B: Technology and Darkness Part 4/Sibling Rivalry**

**Bravo Platoon, Grande Stadium Roof, One Hour Later/1200**

Drake had returned to the Bravos after the Arwings tackled the walker, and gave his report to the others. "So, the walker was unmanned but the crash destroyed the transmitter so we couldn't track the signal from where it was coming from. A shame we couldn't go straight for the assault, we could've flushed them all out."

"And did you forget all about Savannah's traps?" *facepalm* "That's why I'm not in charge... I forget the little things." Sophie coughed, and butted in. "Hey, hate to break up your pity party, but what's that?"

"Hmm? What's wha-oh gods what is that?" He grabbed his radio. "Attention, Stadium Squads, we have an assault on the main floor. I repeat, assault on the main floor. Tactical Teams, we need you guys STAT!" Below them the stadium floor howled into action as the attack sirens, installed at the end of the last Great War against Subspace, yowled out their terrifying cry. The three troops at the top hit the thrusters and jetted off before landingIron Man_-_style on the ground. "David. I hoped never to see your lying arse again, you traitor!" The man opposite him grinned. "And I you, brother. How's our sister? Savannah?" Zack snarled. "Savannah is none of your business."

"Oh, but she is, baby brother. Besides, I have a few friends just _anxious_ for her safety. Luke, Mandy, why don't you reacquaint yourselves with my brother, eh?" The two others of Zack's platoon landed next to Zack, flanking him. "Thou shalt not pass!" Drake's guns formed around his arms and he fired two warning shots into the ground, boring two thick holes with wide craters. Gabe had (wisely) sent four Iron Guardians with them, and now they landed in a diamond around the three protagonist Miis, protecting them. "Aw, cute, baby brother. Amanda?" A woman in a color that could only be described as resin or amber signaled with her hand, and a wall behind the Platoon blew out. As the three turned around in shock, sirens that normally were only used for the Shadow Moses Island (pretty sure that's the name) stage sounded. Which meant one thing... "Oh gods. Drake, get Snake on the line. We have a REX situation."

**Back at the mansion... (1215)**

Sandwiches. That's what Mac made everyone for lunch. It just had to be sandwiches. I mean, don't get me wrong, sandwiches are nice, but... a pizza sounds really nice right about now. And this why I don't write while hungry... *sigh* Oh, my poor fourth wall. Lemme go get some food... First-world problems, eh? ;D

Okay, back. Stadium**, 1230**

Lunch, check. Frantic Zack call, check. Epic shots of the six Miis (plus Snake's cool little hang glider with the propeller... No idea what it's called. If you know, please tell via review!) flying off under double thrusters. An extra half-sandwich each-**NO! AUTHORIAL, NO MORE FOOD TALKING!** Eeep! Er... Yeah... Thanks, Crazy. In case that didn't just give it away, Crazy is here to keep me on topic. He does a good job. And I'm off topic...(4) Right, flying to the stadium. So the six (+ six IGs and a Snake) touch down, making a total of... oh Lord... 20 fighters on the protagonists' side, and another 3 opposing them plus a REX situation that would take the majority of the fighters' attention. Writing this is gonna a major pain in the posterior... "Damn... Luke, I thought you were joking when you said it was big." Luke laughed as he moved out of the shadows. "Nope! You know I'm not prone to exaggeration... " Two amused glances met him. "Yeah... Okay... Maybe a little bit..."

*Boom* "GRATUITOUS EXPLOSIONS! GG, SNAKE!" The three antagonists turned around to see six Miis (Tacs and Bravo), Snake, and eight IGs taking over the rubble of a destroyed REX. David was stunned. "Oh my *quack because redacted*" Ethan met this with his now famous,"Language."

"Shadap, rookie." Ethan sighed. "Y'know, you remind me of something others that my mom said. Amanda, you probably remember this. 'Everyone's a rookie at some point. It just matters how long you stay there before you get better.' Hmm?" Amanda nodded. "That sounds like Mom, all right." Will did a double take. "Wait-are you two-"

"Siblings? Yeah."

"Oh... well..." Ethan sighed. "The team you guys know wasn't the original squad, not in the slightest. Daniel, David, Luke, and Amanda were the original team, and I was the fifth. I actually was the one to split as Daniel's tactics became more and more dangerous to innocent people. I tried to convince the others to leave with me, but I wasn't able to. I got the furthest with Amanda, who was always the skeptic-"

"Still am."

"But I lost her as she slowly was pulled back in. It was a peaceful split for the most part, after I figured out I couldn't change her mind. In fact, I'm still pretty sure the majority of what Daniel does is hidden from you guys. You know the extent of the damage to the town?"

"What damage? We were told the town was intact..." Ethan signaled to Will. "Show 'em some of the pictures." So Will did, showing whole neighborhoods, destroyed by the fighting and stray projectiles, that had been turned into battlefields during the second skirmish, which was largely an attack on the town proper. (A/N: Think Sarajevo, if you remember that. If not, look it up, and especially look at the Olympic facilities.) "You see now? You were lied to. I wish I had something like this way back when I first split." A new voice broke in. "Exactly, cousin. Perhaps you never would have left." Ethan snarled. "I'm no family of yours, Daniel." He spot the final word out with venom and all the anger he had boiled up inside over the last week. A man in black (No, this is not MIB, nor do I own it. Geeeeeeeeeee whiz of I ever tie this all together I am going to have a HEKK of a crossover...) stepped out of the shadows. "You three, I'm going to have a little chat with you after this. You three, on the other hand," here he pointed at Ethan, "are a pain in my side. I should have disposed of you a long time ago, especially you. The only reason you're still in the face of this miserable planet is because your sister wants you alive. That's it! I'm fact, I might as well just add her into the whole mix as well. Amanda, Amanda, Amanda... did you really believe their propaganda?" She shook her head. "I didn't, for one good reason...

**Chapter 10C, Technology and Darkness Part 5/Aftermaths**

"It's not propaganda. Zack?" Daniel looked around in confusion in front of him before two brawlers dropped down. An energy fist from one punched him into the air, and then he was hit with a _brutal _KO punch from the other and he slammed into the ground. Ethan turned to the two newer fighters. "You guys turned on the blast zones, right?" Lil Mac nodded. "Yep, he ain't dead, but he gonna hurt in the morning. After that, fuh-get about it. (He's a New Yohker, but I have no idea how to type for his accent! I mean, he's literally FROM Brooklyn in his games, right?) Now he can stand trial for his crimes. That does we have to be there, ya know." Will sighed. "Oh boy, the author is just gonna loooooove writing that..." Ugh... What did I just get myself into? Great, now I get to involve the International Criminal Court, for crimes against humanity(?) in my writing... Oh, joy. *sighs audibly*

"What?"

"N-Nothing! Just... Fourth... Wall..." Oh, heck. Well at this rate, I'm gonna be a character in my own story! Yay. *sarcasm just dripping out of my ears* Maybe I need another break... **NO! YOU'RE 535 WORDS FROM YOUR GOAL! NO!** Eh, good point. Let's keep going, then, shall we? **Good choice.** "What fourth wall? The one the REX broke?"

"Yeah, that one. That wall's always a pain to fix. That said, we do get nice gratuitous explosions from it, so there is that boost." Ethan shook his head. "Why have I instilled this love of gratuitous explosions in you?"

"I don't know, little brother, but I'm pretty sure you originally got it from me."

"Good point, Amanda. So what're you guys gonna do now? There's not much we three can do protection wise, but we can try to clear your guys' records and give you guys some good rep." She shrugged. "We hadn't gotten this far. The big boss was gonna use the stadium as some kind of base of operations for some war he was going to launch-against a place called Prospace. Seemed a little bit like Subspace, but whiter, to me."

"Huh, never heard of it. Sounds a little bit like Pit's home-you remember, the only major homeworld not decimated by the Second Great War aside from Dream Land, but it was actually spotless, and a blinding white in color. Most of the camera crews from the mansion and the stadium *winks at camera* actually took shelter there. Perhaps there was still some anger from this big boss character, whoever he is, leftover after the War. It's sounding more and more like he must've been a high-ranking Subspace officer!"

The sound of coughing came from Daniel's pit as he pulled himself up. "He wasn't just a high-ranking officer, he was the highest. Ever heard of the name... Tabuu?"

0_0

0_0

"Excuse me, what? As in, the blue dude?" Daniel laughed briefly but grimaced as pain crackled from his ribs. "The one and only. You thought he was done? You can't defeat a god, you puny mortals. You will fall, and then Tabuu will take all that's left of this world to fight his brother, Batu'uin. You can surrender now and right the good fight under a new commander, or you can-" *slap* "Okay, that's propaganda."

"Did you really need to slap me, Amanda, you insolent girl? You dare slap a Subspace Officer?" He stood and threw aside his cloak, revealing the hated garb of the Subspace Army. He reached back to throw a punch but was interrupted by the mysterious 'boom stick' Ethan had been carrying since, like, mid-way through Chapter 9. "No. And you forget something; You're just as mortal as we are." Ethan gave the stick a swing and as it made contact, it sent Daniel flying backwards towards the remnants of the REX. "Whee, bye!" Ethan leaned on his club with a comical grin on his face as Daniel punched clean through the walls and kept on going all the way back to his fortress in the forest, where he crashed into the outer wall with a _*thunk_*. "Welp, he ain't standing trial now. Crap, didn't think of that. I probably need to bump the power down on that a little bit." The outside world having been temporarily forgotten, it now rudely interrupted. "Hey, Ethan? We got a situation up here. There seem to be several Subspace legions outside!" Ethan shared uneasy glances with his friends. "Uhh, where are the IGs? Call them in, we're coming up. Alpha Platoon, let's do this." The three flying Miis brought up the three uneasy allies, and flew off to fight the enemy. Ethan started to give a speech, not to his own team, but to the apparent Subspacers. "Officers of Subspace! Your leader, Daniel, has been sent back to his fortress in the forest, and his three lieutenants have surrendered to me. I will give you one opportunity to leave!" One of the officers, seemingly chosen as the leader, was raised by his companions. "You're wrong on one major point. We serve no Subspace, they are our mortal enemy. We serve the true ruler, Batu'uin, and we are of Prospace. We do not serve the usurper, Tabuu. However it may seem that we have a common enemy, so we will retire our troops to what seems to be your main battlefield. Me and the other officers will remain here to talk with your leaders to see what can be done to eliminate the Subspace threat permanently. Surely we can work out an agreement, no?" By this time, the troops were already being led off, to what was presumably the mansion's front lawn. After listening to the statement, and staggering back a bit when the other officer said the word Prospace, Ethan directed Gabe and Audrey to carry a message to the Hands and the Mansion Men to not panic and try to fight the army that would presumably soon be encamped upon the front lawn. Will tapped Ethan on the shoulder. "So... Who's gonna talk to them?"

Music: _House of Memories_ by Panic! at the Disco

Ethan shrugged. _If you're a lover, you should know_/_The lonely moments get __lonelier/The longer you're in love/Than if you were alone..._ "I mean, I would, but I'm not the most experienced here. I think we tap the original 12."

_Memories turn into daydreams... Become a taboo... I don't want to be afraid... The deeper that I go, it takes my breath away... _"Yeah, I can agree with that. I mean, they have the most experience here." _**Soft Hearts, Electric Souls. Heart to Heart, and Eyes to Eyes... IS THIS TABOO?**_

1) The walker is similar to an AT-AT walker from Star Wars... I don't own Star Wars, either. I wish... To quote a famous 'Tuber, _I CAN DREAM, HAROLD!(1A)_

1A) I don't own the phrase... sadly. But... _I CAN DREAM, HAROLD!_

2) I don't own the music... again. But... _I CAN DREAM, HAROLD!_ I'm going to way overuse that phrase.

3) Also not an explosion OR a fancy gratuitous explosion, sadly. This is the sound of the walker crashing into the group as it tipped over at hit the ground. However, because the walker doesn't play in much past this, you can count it as one of Jebediah Kerman's gratuitous explosions. If you play KSP you know what I'm talking about. So, YAY! *insert praise hand emoji*

4) Oh... My poor fourth wall... I just had that fixed from Part 2... *sighs and pouts*

**A/N: So... This is how Verse 1 ends... Thank you to everyone who reads this all the way through! Verse 2 will happen once I take a couple week break as school picks back up, but it'll be back, don't worry! There will be more sibling banter between Ethan and Amanda, David/Zack/Savannah, and Gabe and Audrey! Now, this is kinda funny, but the way it played out about half of the protagonists are named after my friends, so it just seemed weird, so a shout-out to Drake, Gabe, Audrey, Zack, Sophie, and Will, all of whose characters are based on my IRL friends. So, until next time (Maybe late September?) I'll see you all later. Read and review!**

**Authorial Nerd, September 9th, 2019**

**Next Time: Season two starts! Will the tournament be rescheduled or canceled? Will Tabuu return? Who is this Batu'uin? What brutal punishments will happen to Daniel? Find out, next time! On The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies!**


	11. 2-1: Artillery and Arothmir

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Verse II, Chapter I: Artillery and Arothmir

**A/N (writing time): I realized, like the idiot I am, that I forgot to give Savannah (Savvie) a shoutout at the end of Verse I, so here you go. Welp... Disclaimer time! I don't own the game, characters, or music, and any real-life similarities other than the characters based on my friends are not intentional. Authorial out, and enjoy Verse II!**

**A/N (release time): It's back! After an extended hiatus as I plunged back into school (whee... freshman...) I am a couple of chapters ahead (on 13 now) but it is now becoming increasingly AU, so if you're not a fan of that, you might want to wait until Verse III comes out (more details in ending note), which is tentatively placed at around New Year's 2020. Until then, read, review, and CHEEEE-HOO!**

**One week after the Third Battle of the Stadium... (MFA+15, Prospace +6)**

Instant heroes. That's what we became. Resistance leaders, legendary fighters, even more a hero to the common man than we were before. It has its perks, but it feels like it overlooks everyone else who contributed, from what we later discovered was a Carlian National Guard team, who fought alongside the stadium crew as they fought off the Subspace primids, all the way to people like Fox and Falco. We're getting ready to start the tournament soon, so be ready! Ethan's reverie was interrupted by a knock on the door. He opened the door to one of the mansion's newest residents, a young elven man from the Prospace military who Ethan had taken in as the younger brother he'd never had; Commander Arothmir Deshart, an experienced fighter in his own world (see my other fan fiction series for more on Arothmir in a different universe-he does some bada$$ things!) and an absolute dead shot with a bow. He could give Ethan a good run for his money up to the extent of his bow's range. "Good to see you." The younger man opposite him smiled. "And you as well, Captain. The Major is calling a meeting." Hmm... I should backtrack a little bit, shouldn't I? Yeah, let's do that. So, it was two days after what was now known as the Third Battle of the Stadium.

**MFA+10/Prospace+2**

The original 12 emerged from the strategy tent with wide grins on their faces. The Prospace Army had kept showing up through their portals, and their count now rivaled that of the largest military on the world. With that, one of the larger squadrons had been given to the Smashers as a full-time protection force, and one of them had been placed under Ethan's command, as he was an experienced commander in his own world. The commanders of the three squads that now made up Alpha Platoon had been cordial from the beginning; The Fields of Devastation belonging to Will, Hopes of Dreams under Sarah's guidance, and the Defenders of Ker'baln being under Ethan's tutelage. The commander of the Defenders was Commander Arothmir Deshart, the young elf who had experienced much in his time. He had his own team with him of capable warriors, two other rangers named Adlar and Cynthia. The three squads had defended the gates of their capital before their kingdom had come under the guidance of Prospace, and were highly decorated in their own rights. Bravo Platoon had received four squads of native Prospace troops, highly specialized men who could fight in all three disciplines, perfect for Bravo's versatility. Their commanders were lighthearted men, who fit perfectly with newly-minted Lieutenants of Bravo Platoon. Hmm... I need to explain something. So, we have two different rank systems here. We have officers, like the Miis, whose first promotion is to the rank of Lieutenant, then Captain, then Major, and on to Colonel and General. On the other hand, there are the enlisted personnel, who go from Private to Corporal, and on up to Commander, Senior Commander, and Command Chief, with the longest-serving Command Chief receiving the title of Command Chief of the Armed Forces. I know, complicated military stuff. Sorry. So, back to MFA+10. Mario came over to the anticipating Smashers and told them what all had occurred, including the assignment of the 142nd Guard Battalion (Lieutenants command Squads, Captains command Platoons, Majors command Squadrons, Colonels command Battalions, etc.) Ethan, already having the rank of Captain from home, had received command of the Alpha Platoon of the 643rd Squadron and personal command of a squad, while Zack received a promotion to Captain and the other two being promoted to Lieutenants, while the Tactical Team now took command of the third Bravo Platoon squad, with Savannah in command as she was the only one with rank (Gabe and Audrey were technically still Greens, the term for non-promoted officers). Charlie, Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot Platoons were still commanded by their previous commanders. So, yes. Stuff. And there were three other squadrons in addition, just about eight thousand soldiers cumulative who would be stationed there until the end of the conflict, when there squadrons would leave for home and one would remain as a security and peacekeeping force on the world. Many of the other affiliated worlds had contributed something to the effort of the war, too. In fact, back in the present day, Ethan came across an old, familiar face in the crowd.

**142nd Guard Battalion Encampment, 643rd Squadron, MFA+15**

As the artillery sent by several larger nations rolled in, a group of ragtag engineers flew in with what looked to be an entire Air Force, and none other leading them than... "Jebediah Kerman? Is that you?" The pilot of the leading plane looked behind him. "Ethan! How are you!" The short green alien hopped off his craft and jogged over to the captain. "I'm good. What are you guys doing here?" Jeb sighed. "They're anticipating that the next engagement will be a full-scale battle, from land to space. The Kerbals are the only species with advanced enough technology to be able to use the same fighters for space and air. They're even calling in artillery." He gestured to several large guns being hauled in. "There are a couple of navies, too, patrolling the coasts off of what is now Subspace territory." Ethan made the universal timeout gesture. "The coasts of Subspace territory? When did Subspace have territory? I thought it was wiped off the face of the map!"

"Aye, that's what we thought too, but Primids are an incredibly resilient race, unfortunately. So back they came, and they defeated a couple of smaller nations without anyone noticing while slicing all signals. We only know because one military sent a desperate cry before they could finish the barrier, but it was nearly too late to save them." He rolled out a large map of the world. "So, the Primids now have from Caladon to Karas, and from Tarkon to the borders of the Reshaad." Ethan whistled. "That's... a lot of territory. That's nearly fifteen countries, and parts of six more. I have a commander whose home is just north of the border, in Lon Ke Raj. That's close for him." Jeb sighed. "It's unbelievable, the last time they grew like this their technology was nowhere close to as good as it is now. They must know something-or someone-that we don't." Ethan sighed. "Well, it's good to see you, but I got a meeting with my new commander, wanna make a good first impression, huh?" Jeb laughed. "Yeah, probably. Go ahead, dude." The two fist bumped, then went on their ways. It seemed that where the forest and the bunker once lay a short few days ago, there was now a large military base springing up around them. As he looked, lodgings for one of the squadrons were being raised. Near where they discovered Daniel's compound, a large scientific research area had been established. There were runways being paved for the Kerbal Air Forces, and even a few smaller launchpads, because Kerbals never pass on an opportunity to do some good old Science! via rockets. There were a few different areas to the base for each of the major nationalities. Since most of the troops assigned to the mansion where from the region of Lon Ke Raj, they were placed closest to the mansion. Man, I could make like a full chapter on logistics and the base layout and strategy and... OH MAN! Geez, I gotta stop nerding out so much, soon I'm gonna have to start making maps for myself so I know where everything is! So, off Ethan went to his meeting with the Major, along with the other five Captains of the squadron. Each of the other platoon commanders had brought either a top lieutenant or their senior commander-Ethan didn't have a senior commander yet, so he brought Sarah as his top lieutenant. After interacting with the other lieutenants and captains for a while, the call of "Room, ten hut" came from the major's aide-de-camp and the officers snapped to their respective positions of attention as the major walked in. Sarah gasped as she recognized the major in charge. "F-father?"

**A/N: Heh, well, that was fun to write! So, thanks for reading as I kick off Verse II of this series as it becomes more and more simply focused on the Miis, rather than actual Smash Bros, which probably won't happen until Verse III at the earliest-I have a plot sketched out here for Verse II, which looks like it may be another 10-15 chapter arc. Stay tuned till next time, and please leave a review with what you think, all criticism welcome! Thanks!**

**~Authorial**


	12. 2-2: The Father's Tale

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Verse II, Chapter II: The Father's Tale, and Strategy

**A/N: Action and stories! We find out what truly happened that day... But yeah, action, fighting, and... Yeah... Enjoy? **

_**Insert Standard Disclaimer Here**_

"F-Father?" Sarah choked out the plaintive cry as she recognized a familial face. The man turned to her and his eyes widened in recognition. "Scout, is that you?" She nodded, tears in her eyes. The major smiled. "We'll talk more after the meeting, I'm sure you have plenty of questions." Sarah, or should we say, Scout, smiled and stepped back from the table behind her astounded captain. Ethan blinked several times rapidly, the equivalent of the meme. The major stepped to the front of the table. "Take a seat, everyone. It's nice to see some old faces in the captains here, and some new faces as well. Commander Deshart, always good to see you as well." The tall elven man gravely nodded. "The honor is all mine, sir." The major looked at the table around him. "Around me, I see six capable platoon commanders, four young lieutenants experiencing their first taste of leadership, and three commanders, giving their valuable soldier's input. Thank you for all coming first try." This got some laughs out of the assembled leaders. "I know that Foxtrot, your artillery and mechanics are arriving soon?" A shorter man stood. "Yessir, in fact, they're arriving as we speak." The major looked pleased. "Good, good! Echo? Anything to report?" The thinner man on the left of the Foxtrot leader arose. "Yessir, we're maneuvering our surveillance teams into positions to commence a UAV constant observation, 6 and 6 shifts." Again, the major looked pleased. "Wow, lots of good news here. Delta, don't ruin the streak." More laughter ensued as an older gentleman stood. "I'm sorry, sir, but unfortunately we lost a few of our new technologies to a guerrilla attack on the way here. No loss of life on either end, but the cost is unfortunate." The major scowled. "Man, you just had to ruin my streak, didn't you? Charlie?"

"Nothing to report sir, everything is smooth and exactly on schedule."

"Good, thank you. Now we get to the new faces, Bravo, got anything major?" Zack stood. "No sir, but we do have some grumbles about being this far away from the front lines." The major sighed. "This was bound to happen somewhere, I guess. We'll go through and do a morale call. Alpha?" Ethan stood and placed a few small tokens on the map. "One of the men in Commander Deshart's squad made these for battle plans and large-scale tactics. They should be good for a while. Other than that, I have nothing to report, Major Schoenfeld." Major Schoenfeld beamed with pride. "Excellent, that's five out of six positive reports today. That's good to hear. You all are dismissed, except for Lieutenant Schoenfeld and Captain Burks here." Arothmir, concerned, placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Do I need to be concerned?" Ethan shook his head. "No, you may head back to the barracks." When he hesitated, Ethan was forced to say, "That's an order, commander." Now the commander's mind was made up for him, and he strode out of the tent after the other platoon leaders. Now, the focus was squarely on the major and his... daughter? Sarah had always said that she didn't really have many memories of her father, so how did she recognize him now? Ethan spoke up with the top question he had on his mind. "Sir, I couldn't help but notice you called her Scout, but I've always known her as Sarah..." She sighed. "I can explain that one. When my father left, I took a new name to signal not only to myself, but also to the world, that I had moved on to a new phase of my life." The major nodded. "And Scout, I'm proud of you, and how far you've come. You've done amazing things, and I have been so impressed." She beamed proudly, then frowned. "So, why did you leave? You had everything you wanted at home... friends... family... money..." He sighed. "Well, it's a long story, and I'll try my best to explain it...

"Not long after you were born, I was training with my squad out in the field, this was before the Calamity, when we were attacked by enemies of Greenhorne. You remember the Intrepid War right before my disappearance happened, right?" The two junior officers nodded. "They had fought for the desert tribes in the war, and my squad tried to fight them off. Only one man escaped unscathed..." Sarah gasped. "Private Connolly..." The major chuckled. "Oh, he was a crazy kid then. That said, I was glad he was the one to escape. Eventually, those of us remaining surrendered to save our lives, and they eventually took us to Subspace. We were traded hands during one battle of the Southern Front, in a town called Cotragon. Somehow, we ended up with Prospace, and they offered us positions in the army. I was offered a position as a greenie, being the only surviving officer of my squad, while the others were sworn in as privates. Some years later, I came back to check on you, but it looked that you had moved on, so I didn't want to interfere with your new life. I had hoped that eventually our paths would cross again, but I didn't want it to come like this. Fate is cruel, I guess." She nodded, and dashed a tear from her eye. "Father, since you're here, I'd be willing to return to my former name of you'd like that." He laughed. "No, child, that won't be needed. You can keep your new identity. Besides, Sarah was actually the other name your mother and I had in mind when you came along." Ethan coughed, a little uncomfortable as the odd one out here. "Sir, I don't mean to interrupt, but it feels like I'm just compounding the situation here. Why did you need me here?" The major and the lieutenant turned their attention toward the captain, and now he really felt like the third wheel. "Captain, I want to thank you for all you've done for my daughter, in being her companion this whole time." Ethan laughed. "Sir, it's a little hard not to be friends with your daughter. But otherwise, it was my pleasure, and she's always been the light to my darkness, the optimism to my pessimism. She's the perfect counter to me, and I wouldn't have chosen anyone beside her to be my lieutenant." He finished this off with a wink directed towards her as she blushed from the praise. "Oh, stop being such a flatterer, Ethan." He chuckled. "No, I don't think I will." The major laughed at the banter between them. "Well, I think we're done here. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask me, you hear?" The two younger officers nodded and thanked him as they left the command tent. As they went out, they could see a large map being raised of the Subspace controlled territory and the region around it, and expanding the lines as another smaller country fell to the threat. On the other side, he could see the river that traveled down to the ocean, and as he watched he saw an aircraft carrier go out under full power and with a complete destroyer escort. As the two walked down to the barracks where the platoon was staying, he pointed out many of the new buildings that had seemingly sprung up overnight. One of the soldiers, stepping away from the barracks for a second, noticed the two officers approaching. "Sir! We have news." Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Fire away, corporal." The corporal looked out of breath, as if he had just been at a concert. "Sir, we received an urgent message from the Ven-Kaar Confederacy." Ethan reeled back in surprise. "The Confederacy? They're on the other side of the world!" The corporal nodded. "Yessir, somehow they heard about the Subspace threat here, and it turns out that Subspace outbreaks like this are happening all over the world. Most of them in unpopulated areas, but one happened in their capital -" Ethan's jaw dropped. "Imperial Landing?" The young man opposite him nodded. "Yessir. Apparently, it almost fell to the threat. They were able to get it contained, though. That said, they're sending a division to the Northern Front to relieve the siege of Lon Ke Raj." Sarah tilted her head, confused. "Siege? When did Lon Ke Raj fall under siege?" The corporal shrugged. "Somewhere between three weeks and a month ago. They're the only thing standing in the way of the threat coming over the Wastes, and the only reason they're still on the map is because of their walls and their Rangers." Ethan shook his head sadly. "Damn. If they fall, the free world loses a valuable ally there." The corporal gestured inside to the barrack's map room, where he would be able to point things out more easily and place down his tokens. "So, we have some of their navy coming here," he pointed to a small inlet near the capital, where he placed four tokens representing the confederate navy. This was Arothmir's homeland, so he drifted in here. "in addition to two battalions of our forces. We're going to establish a beachhead, and most likely slog our way inland to the capital. We're -" he was cut off by the air raid sirens howling out their blood-curdling cry. "Hell." All the attention turned to the captain as naval guns boomed in the distance. Ethan cracked his neck. He turned to Arothmir. "Get Bravo on the line; we want all the intel from their tactical team that we can get. Corporal, get the local map out and set everything up as information comes in. I want an accurate picture in five minutes. Lieutenants..." Here he paused, unsure of what to tell his two squad leaders. "We'll get the troops outside and manning the guns, Ethan." He nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Will." He turned to see the two men he assigned to communications already getting the map set up... and it didn't paint a pretty picture. "Sir, it doesn't look too good." Ethan sighed. "Let's hope the KAF gets in the air soon. In the meantime, I want one of you on the roof, I need a bird's eye view of the field." The commander nodded and dashed up the stairs. "Corporal, what's the naval situation?" The young man dashed around, placing a few final tokens before stepping back and double checking it. "It's not ideal, but we should be okay. The ground battle, on the other hand, is concerning to say the least." Ethan looked, and did not like what he saw. "Hell, we're gonna need to call out the guard. This is it... This declares war. "

**A/N: Bum bum bummmm! Fun chapter, and it goes without saying that you should stay tuned till... tomorrow. This is so late. Oh no... CRUD!**

**-Authorial**


	13. 2-3

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Verse II, Chapter III (Sub-Arc 2A Finale): Hippity Hoppity, Chests and Toppities.

**The Barracks, MFA+15, 1445**

"This means war." The corporal swallowed nervously. "Unfortunately, it looks that way, sir. We need the powerful nations on our side, and soon... The Confederation can only do so much, then we're going to need to turn to the Katalonian States, or Carlon, or even the Thractic Union, as much as nobody likes them." He nodded. "True, true. Let's hope it doesn't come to the Union. No telling what would happen then." The radio crackled with a transmission, and the corporal quickly moved the according tokens around. The first report seemed good; the naval front was moving towards the ocean, and the Brittainians downriver were sending ships to pin the Subspace fleet between two mighty fleets. Then, a reassuring sound. As Ethan listened, the sound of fighter engines spooling up became apparent. The Air Force was taking off. He walked outside to see five of the newest fighters lifting off the tarmac to the already plane-filled sky. The corporal dashed out of the building. "Sir, an update from the ground front." Ethan waved his hand. "Go ahead." The corporal sighed. "The left wing is fading fast, they're going to punch through to the city." Ethan jolted in shock. "Reinforce it as much as we can. We're leading our platoon over. Send signals to the major in the situation." He tapped his radio. "Commander, how's the situation up top and in the drink?" The radio popped and squeaked. "It's decent, sir. Not ideal, but not terrible. We look to be in no trouble on the water or in air." Ethan nodded, murmuring to himself as the platoon began to assemble, awaiting his commands. Ethan waved his arm to lead his men to the front lines. "C'mon boys, let's go show these chucks who the real men are!" With that, they dashed towards the fading wing, picking up stragglers as they went. By the time they got there, the normally 200-strong platoon was up to nearly 400, and they formed a four-thick wall behind the struggling left flank. Ethan nodded to his lieutenants and they assembled their suits. "Alpha Platoon! Let's go show these deluded bucks what a real army can fight like!" With that, the sound of weapons drawing and firing up started to drown out the other sounds of the battle as the three squads charged in, stragglers behind them. The impact this had was immediately visible. The line slowly stopped moving backwards, and started to push forwards in places. Ethan launched himself right into the thick of the fighting, firing off shots as fast as he could load them. Sarah took one of the calmer sections, simply slicing and dicing to her happiness and content. Will was, well, being the Incredible Hulk, punching several things that weren't supposed to leave the ground into the stratosphere. Somehow, he managed not to shoot down a plane like this. If you looked around, you could see Smashers all along the line, and in the cases of Fox, Falco, and Wolf, in the air. Eventually the reinforced squad from the 332nd (that's who Alpha was helping, that's not Alpha themselves) was able to finally beat off the Primids, and they charged in, flanking the army. As they charged down the line, all the Smashers in the front joined the push; most of the Mushroom Heroes, Link and Sheik, Meta Knight and King Dedede, Samus, the three Arwing pilots overhead, and they charged down the line, gaining speed as they went. Ethan but his thrusters and shot into the lower airspace, below the dogfighting in the skies, to survey the situation. A distressing sight met his eyes. "Hey... Guys? It looks like the whole army is back there... As in, all of it." This was met with several redacted comments I couldn't put in here without changing the rating to M for language. It was bad, to say the least.

"Inform the air forces, inform Corneria, inform anybody within a day's march of the situation. We're gonna need to call out CARA." This was met with a surprised squeak from one of the communication boys. "The Central Arollan Regional Alliance? What about the Unified Command?"

"Too far, they won't get here in time. Do we have any way to reach Prospace? We're going to need at least three full divisions in addition to this."

"Not anyway quickly, sir. It takes a few hours at least." Ethan sighed. "One of the had things about them living under the Wastes, I guess."

"Yessir, it is." The Captain sighed. The discovery of the Prospace civilization under the ice had been one of, but not the most surprising announcements made in the last seven days. The most surprising had been, undoubtedly, the arrival of Catalan forces from the usually isolationist country of Catal. The fact that even they could see this threat was promising that the larger superpowers might take notice. This, too, would also probably contribute to more members competing in the next Smash Tournament. (**A/N: *cough Ultimate cough***) That said, right on cue, the international forces showed up to reinforce as the main Subspace force pushed through the thin remnants of the forest. Ethan swore. "Holy *quack*, that's a full on god*quack*ed army and a half!" Will chimed in over the radio. "You're *quack*ed right." Sarah interjected over th radio. "Boys, please. Chill with the language." Two grumbling voices interspersed with the varying types of gunfire. "Yeah, fine." "Whatev-yes, fine, babe." Sarah smirked under her helm. "Good answer, Ethan." The aforementioned Gunner extended his barrel and threw his scope onto his HUD, giving him essentially an energy sniper rifle (1), and he started picking off opposing Primids one or two at a time. At least, this was his plan to assist in the line, now being pushed backwards by the sudden onslaught. This plan was interrupted by a laser show and several stray slugs from the direction of the Bravos. As he pondered why he was nearly killed by two of his former teammates, Zack's panicked voice came over the comms. "Ethan, Will, Sarah, we're taking heavy losses. We're going to have to fall back soon unless you guys can fully support us here. Not sure if you saw the stray projectiles, but Drake and Savannah are buried under enemies-literally." No sooner had he said this than the two boys charged over followed by a good portion of the Platoon, all hollering their fearsome war cry. Ethan switched from his sniper configuration to his shotgun and now was able to launch bodies from side to side and backwards, while Audrey's portals could be seen causing mayhem; it was evident she had become adept at using it to... *ahem* _Hippity Hoppity, remove their chests from their toppities _AKA decapitation. (**I have such great friends... Shoutout to the other Gabriel I know... Doing a little bit of apPEASEment there... Inside joke, just fyi!**) Will whistled as they passed through the head field, and looked to the left and saw the bodies. The fun side of war, no? As they reached the pile of swarming Primids, all of the soldiers with melee weapons charged in, while everyone else stayed back to pick them off a few at a time.

**Music: **House of Memories by Panic! at the Disco

Ethan turned on his focusing music to hear this song's chorus... **Baby, rebuild this house... Of memories. Take my picture now, shake it till you see it. And when you see your fantasies become your legacies, promise me a place in your house of memories...** ***woooooooah*** This sparked him to action, and with several brutal shotgun blasts into the pile, it was now noticeably smaller. Then, it became too small for some of the ranged defenders to keep taking shots, for fear of hurting those at the bottom of the pile. Zack had fought his way up to the peak of the pile and punched his way down, and was now hollowing out the pile from the inside; his progress was only visible when a section of the pile collapsed or when a random disintegrating Primid came shooting out from inside and through the stack. The latter opportunity usually coupled itself with a small collapse in the side, or at least a slump. Ethan made a surprising observation after a while. "I say, is it expanding? Or does it just look like it?" Will, very confused, walked over. "What?" Ethan pointed to a patch on the side. "See, right there, it looks like it's pushing outwards a bit, when earlier when Zack clawed his way up, it was flat as... umm... I have no idea... Flat as the mansion's roof?" Will nodded, completely understanding what he was saying. As he considered the statement, the pile exploded outwards, and as Primids rained from the sky and dissolved upon impact, three figures arose from the dust as it settled. Zack, Drake, and Savannah rose from the ashes, guns blazing. And just like that, the twenty or so Smashers on the front lines charged ahead, soon routing the attacking army.

**The next day, MFA+16**

After the impressive rout, the impending charge of Subspace seemed to subside in threat level, and what was left of their forces in the region soon withdrew after a decisive air victory decimated their aerial forces. After the planes returned with the good news, a celebration was held all over the town, and the map was, at least temporarily, neglected. Now the next task came up of relieving the siege at Lon Ke Raj, and opening a Northern Front in assistance of the Ven-Kaars. But before Ethan, or should I say Captain Burks, went off to the battalion-wide commander call, he had something to do... *knock knock* The elven commander opened the door. "Sir, what do I have the pleasure of owing this visit to?" Ethan smiled. "Commander, I've just been given permission from the higher ups to give you a field promotion... to Lieutenant." Arothmir's jaw dropped to the dirt. "Sir... I... I don't know what to say!" Ethan laughed. "You have a corresponding enlisted boy you want to promote?" Arothmir's pondered it. "Not off the top of my head could I choose one. There are two or three that could receive the promotion, but I'm not sure who I'd give it to right away." Ethan nodded. "You have a couple days until it's official, so get to thinking." Arothmir smiled in what could only be described as pure glee as Ethan left to go do another check on one of his lieutenants.

*thump thump* "Oh, hey Ethan!" Ethan nodded. "Will, how are you? Making plans for our landing day in a couple weeks, I see?" Will laughed. "Yep. I've already added in the progress reports from the preliminary landings this morning before dawn."

"Nice."

"Yeah. Well, how'd Aro take the news?"

"Really well, he's definitely excited." Will grinned. "Good to hear."

"Yeah, it is." The two boys stood awkwardly across from each other. (No, not really, I just wanted to get on to writing the next scene :P) "So, um, anything else, sir?" Ethan shook his head. "No, pretty sure that's it." " 'Mkay."

So once again, off Ethan walked to go check on another soldier. (It's like Deja Vu all over again!) The only remaining lieutenant was Sarah, so that's who he wanted to go see this fine morning. *thwump* The door opened. "Oh, hey Ethan! How were ya last night?" Ethan shrugged. "Decent, I guess. You?"

"Yeah, I'd say the same." Sarah sighed, and leaned into his shoulder. "Ever since the army arrived, I can't help but feel that something bad is just around the corner constantly! And then, it seems that as soon as we let our guard down, something always occurs!" Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I kinda noticed that, too. It seems like it's been like that since we arrived though, what with the whole mine debacle and then the Daniel episode, and then the whole Battle of the Purple Skies, and now... we're planning an invasion! It's unbelievable... And I have a feeling it will go south soon." He shook his head as Sarah gently wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"Ethan... This isn't you... You're normally so confident! You're not someone who's always this pessimistic!" Ethan glanced sideways at the girl-no, woman-who had bravely stood by his side for eleven years since they first met as kids. "War... true war... does that to a person. At home, we fought because we could. We were the lucky few remaining, we could have just fled. But we didn't. We did it because it was fun. This... This is truly a fight for the survival of all of life on this world. And if we fall here, surely it will spread behind here. The pressure is getting to me... "

Sarah gently turned his head to face her. "Hey, look at my eyes." Ethan obliged, and looked into her sky-blue eyes. "This will all turn out in the end. The gods have a plan, and it's our job to carry it out to the best of our abilities." Ethan nodded and dashed a tear from his eye. "I... thanks." He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. She blushed as he sat down next to her. "So, what do you want to do? I heard that they're going to try to get some fights in this afternoon to benefit the recovery efforts down at the mansion-we could go see some action!

End Chapter 2-3

**A/N: One chonk of a chapter done! Chee-hoo! This is getting finished as 2-1 goes live, so I'm still going to try and keep two chapters ahead at all times; that way I actually have time to edit these things! If you had notifications on today ( as of writing, that was on Sep 27) and you had like five emails come through, I'm sorry. I was finagling with the chapter, released it before I finished editing, released an author's note, pulled the note and the chapter, then rereleased the chapter. Yeah. **

**Sorry bout that. Anyway, I'm off to writing the next chapter where we might actually get some Smash Bros before Verse III! So, I guess this means I have to finish up the Mii Fighters on my 3DS, huh? Besides, this is the only time I get to watch SSB4 between CPUs! I also tested the three original fighters (Ethan, Will, and Sarah) against R.O.B. (Miis lvl 7, R.O. 9) in a three stock match with teams and they won, so I think they're good for one on ones! Anyway, chee-hippity-hoo,**

**~Authorial (time of writing, Sep 27)**

1) This is probably a little similar to an E-11 Blaster from Star Wars with a longer barrel.

**Well, now that that's edited I can chill and talk a little bit about my plans for the future of the series. So...um...well...let's just say I don't have much past the next chapter. To paraphrase a quote from astronaut Mike Mullane, "I have no plans past 2-4," the original quote being "I have no plans past MECO." And finally, someone sent in some feedback! Yay! Shoutout to Raeror, who pointed out (very politely via DM, you didn't have to do that, BTW) that some of my large chunks of chapter are... well... long and don't always for on a screen easily. **

**Here's looking at you, 1-1. I'll edit that someday and it will be so much easier to read. And who knows, maybe it will finally balance out the view disparity between Chapter 1 and the rest of the series. Seriously, I have as many views on 1-1 as I do on the rest of the series combined. That is not okay... eesh. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with it. All feedback would be appreciated (DM or review, depending on your preference, I really don't mind) and have a good time! **

**Until next time (this is a chunk of an A/N... I need to edit the spacing on this...), I am...**

**~Authorial Nerd (Not a typo! October 7th, 2019)**

**Uhhhh... I forgot to upload this.. Whoops!**

**~13th of October, Authorial.**

**Gee whiz... why am I so bad about releasing this? This is just getting embarrassing... Please don't be mad, y'all. I wish I had a real reason, like, it's not finished yet, or something, but I really don't.**

**Well... all goes well, this should be released tomorrow. Cheehoo... **

**~Authorial. Oct. 14.**


	14. 2-4: Punches and Swords

Rise of the Rookies: Verse II, Chapter IV: Punches and Swords (First Midseason Part 2)

**MFA+16, Landing Day (L-Day)**

*in a hastily constructed stadium behind the mansion*

MH: "Welcome, everyone, to the charity and recovery tournament! All donations you make today with the tag of _Smashers_ will be matched by the mansion, dollar for dollar and credit for credit. Now, all present, please rise for the anthems of Carlia, Brittanos, Prospace, CARA, and the United Command, followed by a tribute with a moment of silence to all those who've already lost it all and the fallen countries."

As the anthems played one by one, the huge crowd in the quickly built arena all bent their heads in mourning for the fallen as the anthems of the fallen began to sound. Then, silence, as the Smashers who had joined an army marched out onto the field. They fell into a formation, and began the tribute to the fallen nations. As the tribute ended, the scream of fighters yowled overhead as fourteen Kerbal built FF-63 Decimaters did the customary flyover of the area as the military Smashers saluted.

MH: "And now, we have several people we are pleased to present, along with the coverage from the front lines as the army prepares to travel to Lon Ke Raj. First off, during the mansion scuffles before the Subspace Crisis, we had some unexpected assistance from an unexpected place. By now, most of you know of our Mii Fighters' and their incredible suits that were inspired by the legendary Marvel Infinity Saga, but you may not know that there are nine of them total. We have our three residents, but then six other Miis have provided crucial assistance throughout the whole debacle. We would like to present them now. Savannah, Zack, Drake, Audrey, Gabe, and Sophia."

This being their cue, the six backups strode out over the battlefield bridges. The joy was quite evident on the faces of several, and their happiness soon quickly became almost infectious among all the attendees. As the rumbles soon became cheers among the assembled crowd, the atmosphere became almost energetic as the fighters split into their teams. As the now nine strong Fighting Mii Team assembled in what was the place of honor for the stadium, Ethan looked to the stands to see a familiar face. Amanda's smiling visage looked down at him from just a few rows up. Ethan waved her down to the front. "Hey, Mandy! How's life been since the Stadium?" She shrugged, the ever permanent grin never leaving her face. "It's been pretty good, I guess. We haven't had to deal with the paparazzi since me, Luke, and David melted into the shadows. We left when the media started to crowd the floor, they kinda left the main door open for us to just freely walk out without having to give an interview. Luke and David are packing up from the fortress after we cleared it out and they're heading home. Me, I've got a job as a maintenance tech in one of the garages downtown. It's dirty work, but I like it. Besides, it gives me an opportunity to work with some of the greatest people in the world: racing drivers. I mean, we have a new F-Zero Grand Prix course coming here this year and several of the lower circuit Mariokart tracks are already here! Who knows, maybe I'll see if we can finally get a Mii driver to come out and we can set up a team!" Ethan laughed. "You sound like you've had fun so far, then!" She nodded. "Oh, it's great fun!"

"Hey, not sure if this is true, but I've heard that Gabe and Audrey are both into racing. Maybe one of them would be open to starting a team?" Amanda pondered the thought briefly. "Yeah, maybe! That would be easier, being able to approach someone who I may not directly know but at least have a mutual connection to than approaching a complete stranger." Ethan nodded in agreement. "Well, I guess I'll call in a couple days, see how it's going." He reached up for a parting high five, but Amanda surprised him by giving him a hug. "Stay safe, little brother." He paused, slightly surprised by the emotional outburst that was uncommon for her, before returning the embrace. "I will, I promise." They let go, and Amanda lightly punched him in the arm. "Now get going, your girlfriend needs some attention, too!" Ethan blushed as the two siblings shared a laugh at his expense as he walked off.

MH: "We also promised you all an update on the crisis, and the impending landing to make haste to the city of Lon Ke Raj. So, without any further ado, here it is. We go live to our correspondent in the front lines, from the _Times_, Felix Thurlon. Felix, how's the situation?" The big screen at the Stadium changed as it became now the youthful face of the national paper's war correspondent. "Good morning sir, I come to you live from the jungles in the south of the country. Let me tell you something, it's incredible to see this many countries coming together! I don't think we've seen anything like it since the fourth Hearts of Iron crisis, some forty years ago! I look up and down the beachhead and I just see this absolute array of flags and uniforms, from the pearly white of the Prospace troops, practically on their home soil, to the dark reds of the Brittanians, and from the Carlians' sandy hues to the deep green of the Ven-Kaars and the Cornerians' sky blues." The camera panned up and down the coastline before switching to an aerial drone view. "The beachhead was established with minimal resistance early this morning. When the sun rose on this glorious day, that was the first time the enemy had seen a calm, collected, composed opponent, and they soon fled the battlefield. It was glorious. We have taken the first of their fortresses, and we're not even to noon yet on L-Day! *whoohoohoohoo!*" As the film crew laughed at his expression, a whistling noise grew louder as the soldiers in the beach looked around for the source of the noise. Then someone gave the dreaded cry of "Shell incoming! Get to cover!" As the crew ran for the nearest shelter, the feed sputtered before fading to static.

CH: "Well then. I guess we'll come back later once we've reestablished the connection. In the meantime, let the battles begin! First is a one stock match between two of our more popular fighters, MARIO! And his opponent... LINK! Yes, ladies and gentlemen you're seeing a finals matchup in the first round. But here's the thing, it's not the first round... WE'VE CHANGED THE FORMAT! *laughs*"

MH: "That's correct. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome... to the regular season. Each fighter gets 10 matches. The top 32 in the standings at the end of it will be advancing to the postseason tournament. Unveil the standings board!" At the end of the stadium a large fabric cover was pulled off a giant board with all 58 fighters on it. As the audience oohed and aahed, two fighters were moved to the top, Mario and Link, since their fight would place them on the board. "Mario, Link, good luck!" As the Smashers walked off the stadium battleground, the two called fighters walked onto the field from the extended pathways. As their feet touched the packed dirt surrounding the stage, the bridges retracted and the stage began to shift into..

**FINAL DESTINATION!**

Mario kicked off the match, leading directly with a coin punch. Link countered with a combo and then a few arrows had Mario at nearly 50%. Mario unleashed a pair of fireballs, which Link dodged, and then hit Link at point-blank range with the F.L.U.D.D. "Is that all you got, ya old swordsman?" Mario challenged as Link climbed back on-stage. Link hyaa -d irritably. Link then dashed in and sword clashed with fist. Finally, Mario manager to get a few solid shots in, Link crumpled, and Mario kicked him off the side.

**GAME!**

MH: What a match, and now about that to kick off the tournament! Outstanding. And that's just the first of many battles we have leaned for today!

Ethan didn't get to hear anything past here due to an insistent tugging on his sleeve. He turned to it, peeved. "What do you want?" Sarah shrunk back slightly at his brusque (had to look that up) manner. Ethan grimaced. "I'm sorry, I didn't that was you. You wanted to tell me something, I assume, or did you just want some form of comfort because you're nervous or-?" Sarah kinda clutched onto his arm awkwardly, and Ethan realized she was trying to tell him something without telling him something verbally in full view out there. He tapped Will on the shoulder. "Hey I'm going to be right back. Give me a sec, buy me time if you need to though." Will nodded and clasped his forearm. "Stay safe, man, it you have to leave the stadium." Ethan returned the gesture, before letting go to follow Sarah. As they ducked out from view, he turned to her and gently took hold of her shoulder, turning her to face him. "Okay, what's up?" She glanced away. "I... I have a weird feeling out there. Something there feels dark, different. I can't tell what it is, though. But..." He wrapped her in a tender embrace as she began to cry. "Shh...look at me, babe." She dashed a few tears from her eyes. "When was the last time you had a feeling like this? I haven't seen you this bad in a long time." She shook her head. "Right before we assaulted the Karkaton Fortress... the first time." Ethan shuddered as he remembered the horrific event...

**LORE**

Three years before the First Subspace War, there was another time, in which a different Dark Lord attempted to take over the realms. The Dark Lord, through his horrendous methods and magics, was able to steal the faces off of people as they simply went about their everyday lives. The remnants of the armies of Miitopia assembled to try and take down the threat, and he simply snapped and wiped the majority of them off the face of the earth... Those who survived fled at the sight of the faces of their friends being affixed to the very monsters they fought... They sent out a desperate plea to the rest of the world to seal them off, which they reluctantly did. The barrier stood for five long years, not allowing any contact on either side of it. It was not until the final of the Dark Lord's forces were defeated at his fortress in Karkaton did the barrier finally fall...and with it, a curious invitation...

**END LORE**

Ethan shook his head as he dashed several tears from his eyes, still locked in Sarah's embrace. "Surely we'll never have something that bad happen here...not after what just happened with the heightened security and all that." Sarah sighed. "I know you have to be right, surely not...but yet...I can't help but wonder... " He turned her head to face him. "Hey...it'll be okay. Trust me on this. Okay?" He tenderly planted a kiss on her forehead as she nodded. "Okay..." She reached up behind him and pulled his head down to kiss him. "Okay, you two need to get a room. Oh, that's right, you already have one." The two guiltily split apart as Lucina brushed past them, Robin in tow. "She's not wrong, you know," was all he was able to get out as Lucina pulled him along. Ethan couldn't resist the jibe. "Hey, follow your own advice! You follow it, and some crazy things might happen to you! I mean, it might be good, might be bad, so..." Sarah pinched him on the arm. "Sorry...couldn't pass the opportunity." Ike and Marth passed by him in tandem, and Marth said something in Japanese, so Ike translated it for him. "What the Hero-king said was that you're not the first person to say that to them today, nor the second either. What I say is that you're completely correct, and the upstarts need to learn their places." Ethan shrugged. "That might be a bit strong, Ike. Remember, they're just rookies, andthat was you and Samus last year, wasn't it?" The dark blue-haired warrior turned a shade of red, and Marth immediately figured out the dig since there was only one thing (or person) who could cause Ike to blush, so he started to tease him in Japanese blisteringly quickly. This, of course, didn't help Ike, so he bit back in Japanese at the slimmer, lighter haired man next to him as they continued walking. Ethan laughed as he offered Sarah his arm like a gentleman, and she took it as she kissed him on the cheek. "We'll have a talk later about this, okay?" She smiled so sweetly it was impossible for Ethan to say no as they reentered the arena area.

**A/N: *checks chapter length* Hoo boy... That's a hefty one. And a rambling one. And... Oh Lord I'm going to need to make a spreadsheet for the standings. Ugh. And I still need to simulate the battle (yeah, I haven't written LinkvMario yet! Partially because it's late and I haven't run the sim yet on my 3DS, but still. This chapter is 2K words without the battle!)**

**A/N, post editing: Oh god, I haven't uploaded in forever! I'm not dead, just crazy busy. The battle ended up being handwritten and probably accidentally Ultimate-d. And twas only 200 words. Eh, it's done now, though. More funny bits to come!**


	15. 2-5: Behind Enemy Lines

**The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Verse II, Chapter V: Behind Enemy Lines**

As our protagonist pairing re-entered the Lesser Stadium, they arrived just in time to see Little Mac unleash a wicked KO punch on Pikachu in the arena, sending him out of the Smash Zone. "Little Mac, WINS! What an entrance for the rookie! And what a match in general!" Pikachu did his adorable little clap as Little Mac celebrated with his trainer, Doc. As Mac came out of the arena, he was congratulated by most of the guys he passed, including getting a couple claps on the shoulder from the Miis. Will nudged Ethan after Mac had passed by and pointed towards Ike. "Check this out. We might have something from last year..."

Ethan looked, and spotted Ike chatting up Samus. "Yeah, I'm shipping Sike." Sarah shrugged. "Or is it Sake, because their relationship is... intoxicating..." Ethan and Will couldn't keep a straight face between them.

And then... It happened... The screen crackled and popped as the feed was reestablished to the front lines. The young man's face looked pale. "Are we connected? Good...good... You're probably wondering what happened here earlier. Well...take a look." They very carefully maneuvered the camera to be able to see the difference on the beach...craters...bodies...scattered fighting and Primids starting to push soldiers back to the ships. As they watched several groups broke and ran back to the boats. The camera shot back down.

"Resistance is still rising, it seems we overestimated how many forces were at LKR, it seems that the majority of them are in the coastline. I...I think we're going to have to pull back. I fear there is only one force who can save this disastrous expedition...Spartan-" Static. Many in the crowd gasped. Ethan turned to his team. "Get me on the line with the nearest USNC station. I think we need to call in a favor here."

**Later in the evening (1730)**

Ethan sighed, as someone brought a small phone to him in the barracks. "Sir? We finally connected." Ethan's face lit up as he took the phone. "Hello?" The line crackled as the response came through before stabilizing. "Hello, Lieutenant. We've been informed of some kind of a Flood outbreak on your world, correct?" Ethan jolted back in shock. "I mean, it'd certainly make sense of that's what it is... We've had an outbreak before but it was not this bad. Our armies on the ground are simply getting pushed off the beaches, the last report we got from the front lines before we lost connection involved the word Spartan; in fact, it was the last word that came through." After exchanging some more details with the man on the other end, he heard the man exhale sharply.

"Let me put this simply, it's a miracle you've survived this long. Several other worlds have fallen to this strain of Flood that were stronger than you. I think there's only one team that can get you out of your jam... Blue Team. A Spartan-II team, one of our best, if not the best. Not always the best at following orders, but they're extremely effective, and have been for years."

Ethan nodded. "Their reputation has reached even the farthest arms of the galaxy, even this little outpost of a world in the Outer Colonies. Master Chief actually came through here on his way somewhere, every spaceship in the system was in the near space giving him a welcome. He's a bit of a legend. Morale would undoubtedly spike. Thank you for sending us that team."

The man on the other end chuckled. "Yeah, most people hesitate to send them out after the Guardians/Infinity Warfare saga with them and Osiris or because it's not a big enough mission, but me? I still trust them. There may only be five of them, but they're still deadly. Do you want to push the news or...?" Ethan pondered this.

"I think we keep it quiet for now. We don't want the information leaking. I'll send it up through the chain through CARA and the CUNAF so they don't freak out when an unidentified spacecraft enters near space and we can get a welcome party up there, but other than that, the information may very well need to be classified. So long as it doesn't find its way to Mute City or New Donk City or any of the major metropoli like that. Again, thank you for your help."

"No problem. Let's just hope we can keep this contained to on-planet. That's the last thing we need, something like this strain leaking over the local systems. How fast do you need them?"

Ethan sketched a few quick graphs. "I hate to be in such short notice, but I would say within the next hour to an hour and a half."

The sounds of pencils scratching on the other end met his ear. "Alright, that's gonna need a short-deployment option...no, that's in drydock...that's somewhere near the core on a classified mission... Ah! Here she is. Pride of the sector, she is. _Freedom Sentinel_. Fitting ship for the mission. Small, fast, can use slipspace more accurately than any other ship on this end of the Sagittarius Arm. Be there in an hour sharp. Sending notifications to the launch crew and the team now. Fifteen to departure."

Ethan sighed in relief. "Thank you. I would say you're a lifesaver, but you might think I'm being sarcastic. Again, thank you."

The man on the other side laughed. "No problem."

He ended the call. "Get me on the line with CARA and CUNAF."

**Fifteen minutes later.**

"Let me get this straight, Captain, you called in a USNC Spartan force without checking with your superiors for confirmation?" The CARA representative was stunned. The Central United Nations Armed Forces (CUNAF, BTW) rep simply laughed. "Way to take initiative, kid. Wish I'd thought of it first. If it works, count yourself in line for a big promotion, at least Lieutenant Colonel."

"Gene, nobody ever promotes that fast. Maybe to major, but probably not to LC."

Gene, the CUNAF rep, shrugged. "First time for everything, Mike. Anyways, kid, I think you made a good call. We'll send up a team from the station to meet them in near space."

Ethan nodded. "Alright, thank you. What's the latest from the front? I haven't checked anything since about noon."

The two officers on the video call shared a concerned look. "Nothing good, kid. We are barely holding on to a skinny strip of beach, half the nations have fled the beach entirely or broken ranks. It's mostly the Ven-Kaars and the Carlians left, along with the Prospace troops. There are reinforcements coming from on-planet, but it may come down to the Spartan Force."

Ethan sucked in a breath. "I wish we could be out on the front lines. The Air Force has deployed from here, as has the majority of the naval ships and personnel. It's too quiet here. It's been noisy for two weeks..." Ethan yawned. Mike, the CARA officer, shot him a concerned glance. "When was the last time you slept, kid?"

"Dunno. Sleep is for mortals...which, I guess, technically includes me..." The two officers shared a chuckle. "Get some sleep, kid." Ethan nodded, grateful. "Alright, Gene. I will. Good evening, gentlemen." The two men nodded and returned the farewell as Ethan ended the call. A young courier knocked on the door. Ethan groggily opened it. "Sir, I have a letter for you."

"Thank you, I'll read it first thing in the morning..." He felt himself dozing as he closed the door, but snapped back as someone else knocked on the door. He cracked the door; Sarah was there. He popped it open wider. "Hey, you doing ok? You look like you got slammed earlier."

She shrugged. "Too soon to tell..."

**Near Space of the Gameworld (Silara C), 1900 Galactic Standard Time, 2230 Station Standard Time**

A ship, no larger than the _GMS Dauntless_, dropped out of slipspace. The awaiting ship, the _Pride of the Dales_, hailed her. "Attention jumped ship, this is the _GMS_ _Pride of the Dales_. We assume you are the _USNC Freedom Sentinel_?"

"Affirmative, this is Sentinel. Requesting permission to dock at the station _Yenoba_ for troop transfer."

The GMS ship quickly got confirmation from the station. "Granted, _Sentinel._ Proceed to Docking Port Delta, on the north end. The delegation is waiting there."

The small, _Liberator-styled _ship slowly thrusted towards and docked with the station. Its precious cargo, the Spartans, debarked. The appointed personnel met them at the hatch. "Welcome to Silara C, gentlemen. The _Imperator_ orbital shuttle awaits. We'll fill you in on the situation in Lon Ke Raj on the way down, we're landing on the carriers then it's straight into the war zone. The situation...is dire."

**The next day, on the surface...**

"Status report, what's the latest from the front?" Ethan strode downstairs to make new mental plans.

"The tide's turned, sir. The Spartans have led the troops to completely rout the shoreline forces. We've had transmissions through the night without lapses. The aerial forces are already almost in-range of the capital. Take a look at the map." He could tell the young man was struggling to keep a smile off his face.

"You can smile, I won't put you in trouble."

The young man broke into a grin.

Someone bumped into Ethan from behind. "Oh, sorry."

Ethan turned to see who it was, and was met with Sarah also turning around to see who she bumped into. Ethan, completely caught up in the joy of the moment, grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, laughing.

When she was able to stop herself from spinning, she had a questioning grin on her face.

"Well, someone seems happier. What's the news, boss?" Will poked his head around the corner, coffee mug in his hand.

Ethan quickly told them what he knew.

"Well, that's a refreshing change of pace," Will furrowed his brow as he looked into his mug.

One of the soldiers tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir? That's decaf, if you're wondering why it doesn't have that kick this morning."

Will sputtered, speechless. "Wha-who-why- WHY DECAF?" The others shared a laugh as Will wandered back to find a cup of coffee that had the caffeine he needed.

**Deep in enemy territory, Alpha Regardé, Frenisian saboteurs.**

Five men moved swiftly through the night. Their mission, attack Subspace forces behind the lines, cause as much damage as possible. Their leader signaled them for silence. Five white, muddy, visored helmets swept through the underbrush. They set up gear just out of sight of a Primid encampment. They set their guns just over a ridge and...

**Twenty minutes later...**

"Sir, camp deleted."

"Good. Keep it up. Keep moving." The hologram flipped off and they moved on, deeper into the jungle, where intel indicated a supply chain was located. The captain signaled his troops to spread out to widen their search area, split up.

One of them soon spotted the train and radioed in to the team. "Bogies located, currently located Sector AA-6, heading 245. Approximate distance 300 yards. ETA all members."

"5 minutes."

"12."

"3."

"Already there, two sectors over."

The last one made a hand signal to the first trooper, making sure he was seen only by the saboteur. When all three of the others arrived, they popped over the top completely surprising the Primids. One of them made a desperate leap for a communications system. "Attack, I repeat, attack! It's the clo-"

Ten shots echoed through the night, silencing more than half of the enemies. Two troopers, seemingly the leaders from their colored markings, stood and radioed into the jungle. "CUNAF, this is Rex and Cody. Target eliminated. Moving into the jungle now."

"Roger that, Captain. Stay stealthy."

He took his hand off the communicator. "Cody, take Fives. Echo, Domino, you two are with me. Meet at Sector GI-78 at 0600 for reinforcements and our next target. Move out." The group split in two, two going one way and three going the other.

**Back at the mansion...**

"Sirs, ma'am, you have an assignment." The three looked up, startled.

"Alright, let's get the troops ready." Ethan started to stand.

"No, sir, it's just you three."

Will cocked his head, confused. "What do you me-oh... It's behind enemy lines. We're joining a sabotage team."

"Yessir, that's what it is. You're joining a group of Frenisian saboteurs deep in enemy lines. We can't even tell you what country you're headed to. Just a sector drop designation - GI-78."

Will nodded, "Thank you, trooper."

The man opposite him saluted. "Just doing my duty, sir."

Will turned to his compatriots. "You heard the man. Suit up in the camo gear, we're going behind enemy lines."

*thump* *Thump* *THUMP* ***THUMP* **_***THUMP***_

A/N: The mysterious thumping noise... Anyways, thanks to both of you guys who favorited the story since I last shouted people out... Again, can't remember usernames off the top of my head but you two know who you are...welcome to the MOAR BOOSTERS! Anyways, this was a nice long chapter, coming in at just under 2100 words on its own. And yes, you may or may not have picked Commander Cody and Captain Rex from Clone Wars (if you're not a _Star Wars_ junkie, that's ok too... I've just been binging the series recently on Disney+, about 3-ish seasons in!) out of the pile of somewhat new names on this chapter, but there'll be more action, more explosions, more fun, more romance, and MOAR BOOST-*ahem* more characters introduced in the next chapter. A preview...

Ethan scanned his surroundings. "It's a trap, dammit! And we walked right into it!" The eleven members loaded their weapons or drew their swords, and prepared for the attack...

A/N: HEEEEHEEEHEEE I'm not even going to tell you all where that is in the next chapter or when it'll be released. I'll just say: stay tuned...

Until then, may all your boosters fly safe!

~Authorial Nerd, proud leader of Team MOAR BOOSTERS!


	16. 2-6: Ambush!

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Verse II Chapter VI: Ambush!

**Deep in enemy territory... Sector GI-78**

Five muddied white helmets spread out around the area as a small ship landed and six camouflaged suits stepped off; one with two gold stripes, two others with one green. The six quickly made their way into the jungle to avoid detection as the ship took off back to friendly territory. What must have once been an orange striped helm met them in the foliage.

"Welcome to the jungle, who's ready to rumble? Welcome you three troopers and welcome to the officers. We've been needing a refreshment in the team since the raid on Huntington."

Ethan raised his eyebrows under his helmet. "That was your work? I'm impressed. I knew they found a few of you clones there, but there was no affiliation, so most of us thought they were rogue... who knew they were CARA-sponsored?" He cracked open a knob on his helmet to get some fresh air circulating.

"That was Alpha Regarde, sir. Proud of it, probably our finest moment as a team since we were trained." He turned to the four others, "Echo, Fives, Dom, come meet the new officers." Three of them stepped forwards and introduced themselves: Echo with the blue chest stripe, Fives in the green-colored arm plating, and Dom with the three yellow spots on his shoulder. "In addition to those three we've got Captain Rex here, the current leader of the team." Rex stepped forward with his blue helmet in hand, other hand outstretched. "Good to meet you, gentlemen."

Sarah snorted. "Who said we're all men?"

Rex's eyes opened in surprise. "My apologies, ma'am. Everyone looks the same under the helmets. On to the matter of business, we received reports that there's a large convoy about three clicks from here." Ethan quickly tried to do the math in his head converting the units to Core. "That's about...A mile and a half, sir."

Ethan acknowledged one of the new camouflaged troopers that had arrived with them. "Thanks, Alpha. You know I can't do quick maths!" The assembled troops laughed. "How long do you think it'll take us to get there?"

Cody shrugged. "Depends on how fast you three are."

Will popped his neck. "Don't worry about us, Commander. We have of catching up should the need arise." The good commander nodded. "It'll be roughly half an hour to forty-five minutes hard march, it's rough terrain."

Ethan nodded, "Let's move out."

So off to our eleven intrepid saboteurs, off on what seems to be just another normal mission...

**Somewhere... Beyond the sea...**

"They're about to spring the trap. Be ready."

"Roger, Roger. We'll be ready."

**Back across the sea...**

One of the new troopers, the quietest one who went by Gamma, pointed something out among the trees. "Sir, I think there's something moving in those trees... Something metallic, almost."

"Pfft, aw c'mon Gamma, pro'bly just your imagination playin' tricks on ya, " Beta laughed

"Beta, I'm not so sure that was my imagination..."

Under the helmet, Ethan rolled his eyes. And then rolled them again. "Shush, you two, before you bring every primid in ten sectors onto our hides."

"Yessir..." As the eleven made their way into a clearing, Alpha heard a cracking sound and his head whipped around just to see the same metallic glint. "It's not just Gamma... I see it too..."

Fives agreed nervously.

Ethan slowly tweaked a dial to turn on his visor's viewfinder scope. He was quite impressed by the amount of stuff the Frenisians were able to pack into a helmet. It did need an air conditioning system, but a soldier knows when to take sacrifices. "I'm not seeing anything. Lemme check the scanners." He pulled a small antenna-like device out of his pack and swept it around the area in a circle. "Nothing there either... Wait, didn't one of you mention that the Primids had made an alliance with the drones of the... Geowhatchamacallems... Geonosians?"

Rex and Cody shared a quick, concerned glance. "Ummm... Yessir... But we're not anywhere near their territory. We've stayed clear as per the treaty of Devino Square... And they have as well."

Ethan looked over his shoulder. "But this is war, gentlemen. If they've made an alliance with the Primids, we're in some deep *quack*. Hand me my pipe." As the clones glanced around in confusion, Will pulled a large pipe contraption out from a bag and assembled it. "Stay down, gentlemen. I don't want your equipment to short out." With that, he raised the pipe, aimed it towards where they had seen the glint, and pulled a trigger, then a second , and then flicked a switch. "Range hot. 3...2...1..." *** FWOOMPH*** A large burst of air, followed by an electrical pulse. Three droids toppled out of the trees, shorted out by the EMP.

*thump* *Thump* *THUMP* ***THUMP***

"Sir, dammit, there's an army out there!"

Ethan scanned his surroundings. "It's a trap, dammit! And we walked right into it!" The eleven members loaded their weapons, or drew their swords in Sarah's case, and prepared for the attack... "Get me a scan, and reload the pipe. Clones, hold them off. Don't shoot unless they're advancing on the position."

The eleven quickly built themselves a small hideout, large enough for them all to fit and duck under, because plot. Yeah, I'm lazy. Get over it. The pipe was reloaded, aimed (after a quick electrical scan to locate the enemy), and fired. *FWOOMPH*

*BZZZZZZZTcrackle*

*pbbt ded robots*

"Well...that works. How did you get that? Did you create it?" Gamma cocked their head, curious.

Will deadpan stares into what we know to be the viewing window and says...

"The Plot required it...the Author created it...and the Illustrator brought it to life..." (No, I don't have an illustrator, not am I one. However, if someone WANTS to do art for this series, contact me and I will hook you up!)

"Who?" Will snapped out of it. "Uhhhhh we built it. Sorry." Gamma raised an eyebrow. "That's not what you said, but okay..."

Ethan shook his head. "Please, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to remove your helmets. It would make me feel better knowing what my compatriots that I'm living beside look like." The three officers removed their helmets, followed by seven of the troops.

Gamma, however, abstained. "Sir, I... shouldn't." Ethan, confused, raised an eyebrow. "Why? Are you a spy? Now I'm afraid I might have to order you to remove it..." Gamma sighed and unlatched his helmet...to reveal a feminine face underneath, with long, raven hair.

Ethan's jaw hit the turf, as did Rex's and Cody's. "A volunteer? And a woman at that... Serving out here on the front lines? I...I thought that was against regulations!" Cody was blown away. Sarah coughed indignantly. "I mean, it clearly isn't. I'm here, right? As a small squad, we have to stick together, so that means that we can't keep major secrets from each other, Gamma. It could tear us apart in the long run. Here, take a walk with me. Let's have a chat," she glanced back, "just between us girls. And I ask this of you not as an officer, but as a friend...and boys? Work on locating the actual supply train. I've got fighting I want to do." The boys grumbled, but Sarah glared at Ethan who sighed, and said, "Let's...do as the lieutenant asks, boys, before she comes back and slugs me."

"Thank you...maybe I won't hit you yet. C'mon, Gamma." Gamma nodded and stood up and the two walked off. Ethan, still dumbfounded, was struggling with words. "Man... Who woulda guessed Gamma was a girl... Alpha, did you know?"

The red-striper shook his head, "None of us knew."

**in the Forest, with Gamma and Sarah.**

"So...your armor looks like it's cramping you a little bit in the...chest area. Do you want Will to take a swing at adjusting it for you so it's more comfortable?" Gamma giggled, "I mean, that would be nice. Maybe shape the armor a little bit more for someone built like...us."

"Oh, absolutely. Will and Ethan had to do so much adjusting for me so it fit comfortably. I'm sure they can do the same for you."

Gamma smiled, "Thank you, I'll take you up on the offer. Let's just hope the boys are willing to help!" The two girls spent nearly another twenty minutes in the forest simply walking around and talking, making sure to stay within shouting distance of the men should something occur. Then, it happened.

**Back with the bois...**

*clank clank clank clank* Cody looked up. "You all probably hear this, but there's more droids. Do we have more EMP shots or did we just have two?" A sad shake from Will answered the question. "Savannah has the rest of them... I haven't made more in a few weeks either." Cody cursed.

Ethan opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind, closed his mouth, realised something, and reopened it to talk. "Guys... Where are the ladies? Are they still out there?" Will and Rex, who had struck up a surprising friendship, shot quick glances at each other. Rex grabbed his communicator and pinged Gamma, who promptly answered the call.

Gamma and Sarah both appeared above the communicator. "Well well, looks like the boys are finally done finding the thing. We'll head back."

Will grimaced. "That's the thing... There's more clankers out here. Some supers, too. I might try to flank them if I were you were you ladies. They're off to the... " Rex checked his compass, "to the north-northeast, roughly 500 yards in the forest from the echoes." Frenisian troops are trained in sounding echoes for distance, due to the country being extremely forested. (A/N: Not gonna go into many details cause I don't know how it would work, but I like it and I think it sounds cool.)

Sarah pulled out a tablet from her side pouch (A/N: Not gonna call it a purse cause then I'm going to get flak from any ladies reading this!) and did some quick map work from past mapping satellite imagery. "Got it. We're on our way. C'mon Gamma, let's go save the guys... again." The communicator switched off as Rex raised an eyebrow. "Again? Did you and the Captain get yourselves into trouble before?"

Will laughed nervously. "No...yeah...a little bit? I mean, I think we could've gotten ourselves out of the situation, just not sure both of us would've survived... Okay, definitely yes."

Rex nodded. "Thought so. Let's make sure the Captain doesn't get killed, shall we?"

Guns, swords, and other sharp objects or projectiles come out. The soldiers get desperate, and Will resorts to using his fists, Wii Sports Boxing style. He was taught so much by Lil Mac...and received a fondness for chocolate from Doc! (:P)

Then, it happened. Again. *boom boomboobooboom shling* Two women sliced and shot their way through the attacking force, slicing and dicing and... HIPPITY HOPPITY REMOVE THEIR HEADS FROM THEIR TOPITTIES! *happy author noises* Ethan raised his helmet and gave a wave. "Just in time, ladies! Having fun?"

Sarah took a few more slices before answering. "Yeah, but are you gonna help? It's a little easier with more people..." Ethan immediately led a charge over the banks of the encampment. "FOR FREEDOOOOOOOOOOM!" (A/N: #MURICA) *Slice, bang, thump. (Sarah and Gamma) Pew pew...pew...pewpewpewpewpewpewdiepiepewpewpew! (Ethan and the clones) Punch...ow. Punch...ow. (Will...)*

Cody gritted his teeth as he ran out of ammunition in first one gun, then the other. He wasn't the only clone out of ammunition, either. Alpha, Beta, Domino, and Echo were all out as well, and Fives was on his last shots. Rex, in the other hand, thanks to his calm, methodical manner, still had ammo, but only one clip left. Ethan was starting to run low on shots, too. He grumbled something as he stowed the gun then grabbed a beam sword from his bag and started slicing. "Damn, we're gonna need a lift out of here, it seems. Who wants to call the ride?"

Right as he said that, though, shots rang out from the far side of the field and a sight for sure eyes came charging out...Blue Team. They had slugged their way from the beaches nearly thirteen miles inland in just under 24 hours and they came in guns blazing. Ethan gave a wave to signal who was who and went back to slicing. The two teams made quick work of the remnants, and those that survived fled retreated.

Blue Team offered a salute, and left soon after on a nearby transport.

**A/N: Well, this was a fun one to write. Slogging through these chapters, but having fun doing it! I hope all of us Americans had a great Thanksgiving. And man, it's DECEMBER? Well, let's make this one to remember with the story. Happy Holidays, and stay safe! If you've read this far, leave a review with a suggestion or just to tell me you're enjoying the series with what surprised you! Safe flying!**

**~Authorial!**

8


	17. 2-7: Ambush!

**A/N: Before we kick off the chapter, I'd like to acknowledge a review left on the last chapter, from Ryder:**

_This story has progressed from the first chapter. In it's first chapter everything was clumped up in one big paragraph and it was hard to read. _**Yeah... That's why I think most viewers don't get past the first chapter or two... One of these days I'm going to get on my computer (I normally write on a tablet, actually) and completely overhaul the spacing...**

_As the chapters continued you added your own OCs though they were kind of hard to follow at first. As things are now the story is still a bit weird to read with the setting hopping to places and character shifts from the game to the a OCs but it isn't unreadable is it's ok in my books. I'll keep reading to see what happens next. Keep it up and I hope you improve more. (Also don't insert the A/N in so much during the story) _**I know, there's a few too many characters, but they should only be around for a few more chapters! And I'm going to return to something I haven't used since 1-10-the little footnotes in the chapters!**

_Also are you using Clone Wars names? _**Yes! Cody, Rex, Fives, and Echo are all based on their characters from the series! Alpha, Gamma, and Beta (well, obviously on Gamma's part) are all OCs... Yes, more of them. I might make Gamma a permanent recurring character... I need more powerful women in the series! Anyways, thanks for the big old review, lots of feedback! And now, to the story!**

The Tournament: Rise of the Rookies: Verse II, Chapter VII: Stuff Happens.

Journal Entry 15, Ethan. Nearing LKR, ~10 miles.

'Three weeks. That's how long we've been slogging through this endless jungle, and we finally caught a glimpse of open spaces and civilization yesterday evening. The eleven of us have split up six times, destroyed at least a dozen supply wagons, and fought droids at least twice a week regularly. It's becoming a moshpit the closer we get.

'Beta came down with some jungle disease last week and was briefly airlifted out. He's since come back, but he's still got a bad cough.

'Will and I were able to fix Gamma's armor, and she's since become a valuable member of the tea. From the way she and Sarah act together, you'd think they'd have known each other for years...goodbye will be difficult for those two especially.

'Then there's Will. He's become essentially our HQ correspondent in charge of communications, and somehow he and Rex have gotten along well. They're a strange pairing, sure, but they're astonishingly efficient. We can always count on them getting stuff done. The same can be said for Alpha and Cody; a strange friendship, but astonishingly efficient in the strategic side.

'Oh, and Echo and Fives? Those guys are just competing for kills now. What originally started as a detachment wide competition has since devolved into a two man face between the two big guns. I wanna say Echo leads by four right now, but I can never remember.

'As for me, these three weeks have been brutal. I've come under fire from several higher ups for calling in the Spartans, despite them turning the tide of the invasion. I fear for my position here at times...it seems that I truly did enter into a false dilemma...I don't see any way out of a looming court martial when I return. I may even have to return home, to Miitopia. I don't want to do that...'

*end log*

Ethan, sitting against a tree root, set the pen down and buried his face in his hands and sighed, "Well, can't get much worse, can it? No, actually, it can. Knock on wood..." He felt a caring hand on his shoulder and he looked behind him, expecting Sarah.

Instead, it was Gamma who was there. "Sir, I heard about your problems from the lieutenant. Just know that even if you do get court martialed, the detachment stands behind you."

Ethan nodded, "Thank you, Gamma. I guess we should get the folks headed out, huh? Two days till the assault and my head's going to be on the table even more if I don't get going now and we end up late..."

He stood and reached for the horn hanging at his side, before pausing and tossing the horn to Gamma. "You get to do it for the last time. I think that was part of Sarah's...bargaining that first day."

Gamma smiled and raised the horn to her lips and gave a loud, long blast that echoed through the surrounding area.

Ethan's jaw dropped, what she had just done was better than most of his horn calls. "Man, we should've had you do those earlier. We might've actually been able to get Will up on time some mornings!"

As he spoke, bags started to drop out of low trees followed by the owner of the bag. Will dropped Ethan's at his feet from above then slid down a thick vine on the side of the tree. Ethan did a quick head count verifying all team members were present and he shouldered his bag. "Alright, we don't know what's waiting outside the forest, so keep wary and keep ready. There are rumors the local monster clans from the North have sided with the Primids as well, so keep wary."

He turned and led the way out of the forest, into the first large open plain they had seen in three weeks. As the troopers squinted, shapes dropped from the surrounding trees. The fighters scrambled to get in a defensive position and nearly opened fire when Ethan held up his hand. "Who are you?"

One of them stepped forward. "We are the last that remain from those who defended the Walls when they fell to the Horde. You do not appear to be one of them. Stand down, men."

As the fighters' visions cleared, Ethan recognized a small patch on the shoulder of the man who stepped forward. "Excuse me, but that patch...I recognize it. You were one of the original men of the Kerball Wall, weren't you?"

The man nodded. "Aye, I was. We were a glorious unit, too. 'Tis a shame they called the Commander into the Joint Forces."

Ethan began to smile. "It might interest you to know this, but your commander is now Joint Forces Lieutenant Arothmir Deshart, is he not?"

The man's eyes opened wide. "Aye, that was him alright. He's gotten a hefty promotion it sounds, good for him and his commanding officers."

Ethan chuckled. "You're actually speaking with his commanding officer currently. Joint Forces Captain Ethan Burks, Member of the Ordahn au Medalon Au Nocht (1), at your service. And trust me, he completely deserved the promotion."

**The next morning, ~1 Mile from JSF Headquarters**

As the eleven saboteurs made their way towards the camp with those who remained of the freedom fighters, a group five hundred strong, Ethan could practically taste smoke and ash on the air, and as he looked to the north and the west he saw where large fires burned, huge swaths of forest just burned simply because it was in the way of Subspace. He sighed, and further resolved his nerves for the whipping he was undoubtedly about to receive from the Major. As they approached the gates, Ethan signaled for the rest to halt there while he went to the gates to make them known as friends. A familiar face met him at the gate...

"Halt right there. Remove your helmet immediately."

Ethan obliged and removed his helmet to raise an eyebrow at one (a, 1, singular) Joint Forces Lieutenant Arothmir Deshart.

"C'mon, Aro, do we need to do this?"

Arothmir's eyes widened. "Sir!" He hopped over the barricade to greet his friend. Ethan pointed behind him. "I found some of your old company, too. Lieutenant!"

A short, stocky guardsman walked up from the group. "Good to see you, sir. Glad to see you in good health."

The elf smiled, "I am glad to see you as well, Calt. It has been far too long, my friend. I see you have the Resistance (2) with you, why are you not on the walls?"

Calt Tonnigan, a gruff, seasoned man, sighed. "We were split in half, and separated from the wall. We've been poking the sleeping giant since, trying to find a weakness we can exploit and free the city. We don't know how much time we have here." The two men entered into a close analytical discussion, and finally stepped away after at least ten minutes. "We storm the gates. They're not expecting it, and it's the only place we can make it in easily after we punch through. Your friends are with the King, or at least they were when we left. Should we make it there..."

Arothmir teared up briefly. "It has been far too long since I have seen Adlar and Claudia, and Plint, even. How is he?"

Calt snorted. "The old uncanny bugger's as crazy as ever, and even more energetic than he used to be."

The reunion, however, was not to last. Ethan turned as someone approached. "Colonel Halsey, sir!" He snapped to attention.

The colonel waved him off, "Skip the formalities, Burks. We both know why I'm here." Ethan sighed as his two friends stepped up behind him.

"With all due respect, sir, this was as much Ethan's call as it was our own. We deserve any punishment as much as he does," Sarah tried.

Ethan shook his head. "No, you guys have to stay with the Regarde. You're a part of them, you've made friends. I'm a commanding officer, I'm replaceable. Go back to the team. That's an order." He added the last part as Will turned but Sarah refused to leave. Eventually, though, she too turned back to the team.

Arothmir placed his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Always remember, friend, your place here, should we succeed, will be remembered."

Ethan nodded, "Thank you, Aro. But you too- you have your own team to watch after as well." He turned to the colonel. "I'm ready, sir."

The colonel nodded somberly and led the way for the two of them into the camp, eventually ending at the commander's tent. He opened the flap and gestured inside. "You first, Captain."

Ethan bowed his head and removed his helmet as he entered. When he glanced up, he was shocked. The man in charge of the expedition was not the colonel, as he had believed, but Major General Eric Smoultz, legendary for his Krakatoan Campaign, not to mention from his homeland. He briefly lost his composure but quickly regained it. "Sir, I'm ready for the review."

The general nodded, "I've already briefed the others here in what occurred and what my recommendations are. Let's make this brief shall we? All in favor of my recommendation of...

(1): Translation from Ancient Mio dialect: Ordahn-Order; au-of the; Medalon-Medal; Au Nocht-of the Night; Or, in other words, Member of the Order of the Medal of the Night. It was a medal awarded by the Joint governments of Miitopia (after the Dark Lord's Rebellion was suppressed and rebuffed) given to any who had served in the conflict.

(2): This was from a scrapped arc to my first published story, where Chapter 5 is flipped and the Defenders are cut off and the city is put under siege from a much more conventional enemy. Hmmm... Leave a review as to whether I should keep writing that series/reboot it!

**A/N: NOT THIS WEEK! BWAHAHAHAHA! So...we don't know what the general recommends, we don't know what's happening in the city, we don't know how they're getting into the city, and we don't know...well, a lot.**

**But, you know what?**

**I'm going to continue the chapter.**

**Like, right now.**

**If someone read the top but not all of the Author's Note because it appears to be really big, sucks to be them. **

**PART B STARTS NOW! (Its a short lead-in to the next chapter)**

"My recommendation of promoting this man to Major, say 'aye'." The room responded loudly in favor and the colonel broke into a grin.

"Major, you didn't think we were really going to court martial you, did you? That was only a plan to get you out here to lead the assault sooner."

Ethan shook his head, speechless. "Man, y'all suckered me in good! I thought I had it coming for me there!"

The colonel pointed to a small container in the corner. "I believe that is yours."

Ethan walked over to it and pulled the cover off of it, revealing... "The armor Will and I created...you brought it here. Why?"

The colonel placed his arm on Ethan's shoulder, "We made some adjustments. We want you to lead the assault on the city, like I mentioned earlier. We can't have you out there in bright white armor, you'll get obliterated..."

Ethan walked out of the tent and was greeted by his friends. "Well I guess this is...wait, what the hell are you planning?" Will stammered.

Ethan smirked, "Who said I got court-martialed?" He pointed to his shoulder where the two dark stripes on a green backdrop were connected by two thinner stripes on either end.

Sarah gasped, "You got promoted! Ethan!" She squealed excitedly as Ethan laughed and Will, once again, searched for words, as seems to happen so often in this series.

"Wha-how...I...Wow. I-... I just... Wow." Will stumbled over himself searching for the right words.

Ethan pointed to the armor printer, "Suit up. We're leading the point break on the operation."


End file.
